Ripple Effect
by Igetboredeasy
Summary: Ripple Effect - noun: the continuing and spreading results of an event or action. What if events happened differently to cause a ripple effect which no one could have guessed? One such event being that Petunia and Lily had reconciled before her death? If Petunia had treated her nephew much better than in the books or even if Harry was actually James' step-son?
1. Backstory Note

**Disclaimer:** I don't own or will ever own Marvel or Harry Potter; they are the property of their respected franchises and the brilliant minds that came up with them (and those that bought some of the rights ie Warner Brothers, Fox, Disney, etc).

**AN:** Okay, so as we all know this is fanfiction which means I am playing in other people's sandboxes. Fanfiction as its definition means anything written is noncanon period since we (fanfic authors) tweak things to suit our needs. So I am not going to mark my work as AU or AR. That being said, I will use anything I fancy from alternative sources of the same franchise be it cartoons, comics/manga, movies, or books, that fit my story as well as anything my brain comes up with obviously.

Stating that, I have moved the HP verse up almost twenty years to suit my needs. I am also not from Europe nor am I from New York or California so please excuse mistakes that I make and I don't mind those of you that are from those places to correct me.

**BACKSTORY (or what will hopefully be a prequel titled Chaos Theory that will contain this)**

Most everyone knows the story of Harry Potter and what happened once Petunia and Lily learned that Lily had magic and she would be the only one to attend magic school. Petunia crushed that she wouldn't be able to go either had written to Dumbledore only to be told that she wouldn't be allowed since she didn't have magic. That along with the years of Lily being in school bringing home magical things and doing actions which just drove the wedge in deeper that they were vastly different. Petunia began to hate magic (which really hadn't helped that Severus had made a branch fall on her _before_ Lily even went off to school). While Lily was getting a magical education, Petunia was getting a normal one. Once Petunia had graduated she had gotten a secretarial job at Grunnings where she met her future husband Vernon Dursley.

It was in 1994 that Vernon proposed to Petunia who had said yes, it was also the same year that Lily was finishing her last year in Hogwarts and had agreed to date James Potter. The following year James proposed to Lily. The first divergence from canon which starts a chain reaction is that she asks to think about it and to take it a bit slower, James reluctantly agrees but pushes in his own way to try and get her to agree.

In an effort to try mend their strained relationship the four have dinner which did not go well. To try and make up for James (who humiliated Vernon), Lily takes Petunia on holiday and they slowly begin to patch things up. While on holiday Lily meets Tony Stark repeatedly so they have a fling which turns into actual dating. When Petunia marries Vernon to become his wife, Lily brought Tony along for her date and behaves himself as well as he could. James and Sirius come to try and persuade Lily to marry James, in the process they and Tony fight which infuriates Lily who says she's through with both of them. She stays with Petunia until she and Tony reconciled.

There's a huge misunderstanding and some underhandedness that happens where both Lily and Tony think the other cheated on them. Lily and Petunia are both pregnant. James once again asks Lily to marry him even swearing to adopt her child. Shortly after "their" son is born they go into hiding as do the Longbottoms due to the prophecy made and told to the two families.


	2. Chapter 1

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

**Summary: **rip·ple ef·fect

_Noun_

the continuing and spreading results of an event or action.

**Chapter Rating:** K+

"speech"

'thoughts'

* * *

**Chapter One (October 31st – December 31st 1999)**

Petunia didn't grimace or scowl at the colorfully dressed group of children that came knocking at her door. A few years ago she might have done just that or even have ignored them by turning off her porch light to indicate that they didn't celebrate the holiday. Nor did she feel inclined to glare at the child dressed as a witch or slam the door in the hopeful smiling face awaiting a treat to be dropped into her open bag. Instead, the woman just gave the children a smile, reached into the large bowl filled with candy that she'd brought with her before opening the door, and dropped a couple pieces into each waiting bag or bucket. The politer children said thank you before darting off to the next house with their friends, parents, or siblings.

Vernon had gone to the store to pick up a bag or two more of candy taking their son with them hoping the drive would lull the child to sleep. They had agreed that rather than trying to put Dudley down for a nap or perhaps the children frightening him with their costumes, it would be best if he went with Vernon. Neither he nor Petunia had dressed up or had their son in a costume but neither begrudged the parents who were accompanying children who were dressed up. Just as long as none of her sister's kind from _that _world showed up. While Petunia didn't abhor this holiday as much as she had in the past, it didn't mean that she still didn't dislike it to a certain degree. Most people would say that you weren't normal if you didn't celebrate the holiday, and the Dursleys were normal thank you very much; which meant they had secrets just like everyone else. Both Vernon and Petunia had been raised in families that believed and practiced not 'airing their dirty laundry in public' as the saying went. That was why their neighbors weren't aware that Vernon's sister who only visited every so often was a verbally abusive alcoholic that basically owned a puppy mill. Nor that Petunia had a witch for a sister who was currently in hiding from an evil cult of their kind its psychopathic leader.

The two sisters had been able to keep in touch with the only magical item in the Dursley home which thankfully didn't look out of place. It was ironically James Potter who had given Lily the idea and the two had worked on the ornate homemade keepsake boxes. The boxes worked as a mix of the pocket mirrors James and his friends had used in school along with the in/out boxes used in the Ministry of Magic to deliver paperwork. One sister would write a letter and put it in their box and it would appear in the other's box. It was the only way the sisters could talk and that wouldn't be intercepted. It helped that they could still talk after a fashion while Lily was in hiding. They had communicated their irritations with their husbands during their pregnancies, how it felt to have their sons moving in their wombs, along with a lot of other things that were insignificant as well as those that were important to them and personal. They traded photographs so they could see how their families were doing. To keep Petunia safe Lily after seeing photos of Dudley, Petunia, or a family picture of the three Dursleys, she would send the pictures back. Petunia once she got them back would put them in a scrapbook hoping to be able to deliver it to her sister once the mess with the evil wizard was done with. Lily in return never sent moving photographs to Petunia and the pictures she sent were only of her and her son. Occasionally they would have James in them but only because her son was the main feature in the picture.

The two women had a set schedule that they followed when they 'spoke' to one another. They were due to send letters tomorrow to share how their holiday went. The first Halloween neither had much to share as they'd had a three and four month old baby to take care of. Lily had confided that she didn't have such a love for the horror aspect of the holiday after seeing what she had with the wizarding war that was going on. Petunia herself had never been that interested in that genre. This year however both were a bit busy seeing as they now had a fifteen and sixteen moth old child which meant they were a bit more active. This year Petunia had also been handing out candy and had planned on asking Lily if _their kind _were about ringing doorbells as well.

Sunday was _not_ the day they sent letters which was why later that night after putting Dudley to bed Petunia was surprised to see the letter box was not its usual rich mahogany color but a paler shade. It had never done that before. Usually whenever a letter was awaiting for Petunia to read the box's engraving on top would change subtly. With a frown, she'd reached taken the lid off and was surprised that more than just a letter was in the box. The letter bunched as her fingers clenched tightly to it as the hand shook. Vernon seeing how pale his wife's face became as well as the expression wondered in concern, "What is it, Pet?"

The man was content with his wife's deal with her sister as long as that no good husband of hers stayed away and never contacted them unless it was absolutely necessary. He'd been intrigued when he got the gist of how the box worked and stated it would help clear up his in/out box if they worked like that! Just seeing how much paperwork awaited him some days didn't provide inspiration to motivate a person.

"She's dead." It took a moment to sink in. "Lily's dead."

* * *

In Godic's Hollow the protection that had surrounded the Potter home fell and brought attention to it. Due to the holiday some of the neighbors weren't home as they were out celebrating. Those that were home hadn't been expecting the small earthquake that had rocked the neighborhood due to the concussive blast of the magic from the Potter home when it exploded. Once they had noticed the condition of the house, those of a mind dialed the emergency number and stayed on the line to continue to give updates to the operator unsure what to do otherwise.

Outside the house Sirius Black and Hagrid discussed the Potters' son Harry or rather who he was to go to. The half-giant informed the distraught man that he'd had orders from Dumbledore to bring him to him. Unbeknownst to both, the headmaster had sent Hagrid ahead after being told by his spy that Voldemort planned on attacking the Potters, only he attacked before anyone could do anything with that information. Sirius knowing that Dumbledore was the strongest wizard alive at the moment would be able to protect the child, so he went to confront their betrayer seeking revenge but left his beloved motorcycle in Hagrid's care. The half-giant was able to retrieve the boy before the neighbors started to swam the house their concern and curiosity overriding their fear.

With the exhausted child who'd cried himself to sleep, Hagrid had bundled him in a blanket to keep him warm as he placed him carefully in the sidecar of the motorcycle and drove away. They made their way to London where Hagrid stopped to get some food for himself and little Harry. Showing some rare common sense the man didn't take the floo but had used it to communicate with Dumbledore. The wizard stepped through later and took the boy to St. Mungo's to be looked over to be sure he was alright. In hindsight he might have gone with his original plan of taking the boy to Hogwarts and Poppy Pomfrey to look over despite her expertise being with juveniles from ages eleven to eighteen. While at St. Mungo's it was clear that aside from the nasty gash on the boy's forehead and being emotionally exhausted the boy was healthy. The only thing about the cut on the forehead they could tell was that it was cursed magically and wondered what could have caused it. Later, the healers would talk amongst themselves then hearing about the Potter's house and how Lily and James were dead would slot things into place that made sense to them; hence the story came about of the Boy-Who-Lived. It was only later confirmed when early the next morning Sirius Black was arrested after decimating a street with muggles and former friend Peter Pettigrew.

Dumbledore had taken the boy Hogwarts where he left him in Hagrid's care while he tried to get ahead of the press. Severus was keeping to himself feeling overwhelming grief that he had been the one to cause the death of his very first friend whom he'd come to love. After confirming to Dumbledore that the dark mark was faded, the old man knew it was only a matter of time before the rest of the Death Eaters realized what that meant. The old wizard had to act quickly in order to ensure that Harry would be safe. Knowing many would want to take their revenge upon the innocent child, Dumbledore went to the Dursley residence while invisible and was about to set some wards but paused. There were some protection wards already in place which he recognized Lily's handiwork in them and it caused the man to smile. Despite everything the woman had ensured that her muggle family would come to no harm. Adding his own atop hers being sure they wouldn't work against each other but complimented and worked together, he left satisfied that this would be the perfect place to ensure Harry's safety for the time being.

Word had quickly spread about the Potters, Harry's role, and how it had vanquished He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Wizards who were either brave or foolish were celebrating the evil wizard's downfall while Voldemort's followers were quickly working to keep themselves out of prison by either bribery or with a silver tongue. Among those who were able to talk their way out of Azkaban was the Lestranges who had decided to make themselves scarce as they tried to find out where their lord had went to quell these vicious rumors of his supposed death. Many more would be quickly tried over the coming week.

* * *

It had been three days since the last letter Lily would ever write to her sister had been delivered. In the letter it had explained how it had been pre-written with the hopes she would never have to send it. It stated that if she managed to send it then the nasty cult leader had found them due to a mole. The Potters hadn't known who to trust and Lily hadn't trusted all those her husband had and unknowing what the future would hold, had laid down all of her thoughts, requests, as well as instructions should certain events happen. There were regrets that she wouldn't be able to not only see her own son grow up but she wouldn't be able to personally meet her nephew or thank Vernon face to face for being open minded enough and kind for not hating everything magic to allow the bond that the sisters had reforged. That had shocked Vernon and had him clearing his throat gruffly. It had given the man something to think about.

Vernon had thought of calling in on the first day to take the day off due to family but his wife forbade it. Her face had still been pale and eyes red rimmed from crying but that Evans' stubbornness and determination and fire dominated her expression and demeanor. "You read the letter, Vernon. _They_ might be watching. We aren't supposed to know."

Resignedly knowing his wife was right, Vernon had agreed with her that they should go about their day business as usual. The wizards weren't to know that the Evans sisters had kept in touch these past year nor that they knew of the Potters' death. Only James had known about his wife's correspondences with her sister and had been sworn to secrecy about it. As non-magicals they shouldn't know about the secret war being fought. They waited but in the three days there had been no word from anyone to inform them of Lily's death which caused a new anger in Petunia as she already knew that she wouldn't likely be able to go to her sister's funeral. They tried to maintain that the common belief that no news was good news and that perhaps Lily's son was in the care of his godfather. They would give it a week before they would discuss what to do in regards to Lily's letter.

They didn't have to wait that long as that day Vernon had sworn he saw a cat reading a map as he left then the other strange happenings that day. A stone had settled in his stomach when he'd gone to get himself a bun at the bakery for lunch (what Petunia didn't know couldn't hurt him, only his waistline a little bit) and overheard what could only be _those _kind of people talking about 'Potters' and 'their son Harry'. Vernon thought wizards were a bit backwards and insufferable fools who couldn't be more obvious. Pompous and thought magic trumped everything which was one of the reasons he'd disliked Potter when he'd met him, aside from taking a go at his pride. The thought about wizard kind only cemented as the day wore on and hearing the news about shooting stars and owls and the like. Then as if they hadn't done enough to his wife's family she had to find their orphaned nephew on the stoop as if he were the morning paper or a package.

Both adults had read the letter placed with the boy and Vernon couldn't help his snort of derision towards this Dumbledore fellow. Even if the man had placed spells and such to keep the boy warm, asleep, and keep predators away, it was a rather foolish and rude thing to do. Not enough courage to knock on their door to inform them about Lily Potter's passing or that accepting the boy would activate protection wards for his family. While a letter was the only way Lily could have sent word to her sister, it was inconsiderate for this codger to tell Petunia about her sister being murdered. It was a good thing that Lily had seen to Petunia and through her Dudley and Vernon's protection to keep them safe all these years. He didn't trust Dumbledore's word and from the look on his wife's face neither did she. There had been no effects of the child's save for the jim jams he was wearing, the blanket he was bundled in, and a plush dragon that was clutched in a tiny fist. No mention in the letter about how they were to provide for an extra child, if he'd had his immunizations, nothing!

"Clearly the man doesn't have children," he groused. Children weren't cheap and only got more expensive as they grew older and you had more of them. Just thinking about having to purchase another cot and such for a toddler had him blanching.

"Clearly," his wife agreed frowning at the cut on her nephew's forehead. "Get Dudley in the car, Vernon."

"Pet?" He wondered confused.

"Look at him! No stitches despite how deep that is! What have they done with him these past days if they hadn't seen to him?" Petunia fumed. She'd cut her hand with a knife in the kitchen before which was a lot smaller and shallower than the strange cut on her nephew's head and she'd had to get stitches. Knowing wizards did things backwards, she doubted they would have thought ahead towards the boy's inoculations either. While they were there they would be able to set up a primary doctor for the boy as well.

Aside from the odd cut, it seemed that their nephew was healthy but cranky as he'd woken up and hadn't known where he was. Even if Lily had shown pictures to her son of the Dursleys seeing a flesh and blood version of a two dimensional picture was vastly different. He wanted his mother and continued to cry for his parents pulling at Mr and Mrs Dursley's heartstrings even as they were getting a bit exhausted and short tempered because of it. Dudley not knowing what was going except that there was a new toddler in the house who was sad and getting his parents' attention would end up crying in confusion as well. It was a very trying time for all involved.

They had seen to a solicitor who'd gotten their nephew added onto their family register and had the Dursleys listed as his official guardians. There was the paperwork to apply for government allowance to help in the child's care. Lily had had the foresight to send a copy of her son's birth certificate (both of them) to Petunia. It had helped things along greatly.

After having the doctor's visit out of the way as well as scheduling to get the boy his shots, they had to figure out the nursery situation. The boy would clearly say, "NO!" and would start getting hysterical anytime they were in there with him which resulted in the boy exhausting himself and crying to sleep. They felt a bit thick when they finally realized the problem and their thoughtlessness about how the toddler was clearly traumatized since his mother more than likely died in the nursery! They didn't know what to do but didn't want the lad to fear the room or repeatedly exhaust himself or relive that night when trying to put him down to sleep. Even if they cleared the upstairs guestroom they were at a loss as to how to make a nursery look not like a nursery. Add to that neither toddler was used to being around another continuously. Dudley had been to play parks but didn't interact with other children just yet, while Lily's son hadn't even had that luxury. The toddlers had to work out for themselves how to get along until they realized neither was leaving. It was a bit much for Dudley who'd never had to share before and wasn't sure about it.

Strangely enough it was one of the women from Petunia's infant care classes that helped them out with the nursery problem. Petunia having fretted about how she might not know what to do or how to take care of such a delicate thing as a baby had attended classes while she'd been pregnant. She'd been two and didn't remember much about what her mother did when Lily was born. The classes had been informative and helped her know how to hold her child, bathe it, and even what sizes food should be be cut up into when they got to that point. Petunia had kept in touch with a few of the women from the class who'd been as anxious as she had been and had formed a quick connection with. Heather, was one of these women and she'd been on the phone with discussing her problem with her nephew when Heather had hesitantly suggested an alternative. According to her, her son Charlie hadn't sleep in his cot since he was a few months old. Her husband routinely fell asleep on the couch or in their bed with their son when it was nap time. Chralie was now used to sleeping with his parents and she wasn't looking forwards to when he had to learn to sleep in his own bed. Heather's suggestion had been that maybe Dudley and her nephew could share a bed so it wouldn't be so scary and perhaps make it less like a nursery and more like a room.

Petunia and Vernon talked it over and agreed that the boy didn't seem to have any negative reactions when he was in any other room of the house. It was better than listening to their nephew exhaust himself and listening to those heart wrenching sounds every night. So the couple put the toddlers in the play pen in their bedroom before heading to the guest room and nursery to make it more friendly. They put in a child's bed with padding on either side just in case they fell out of bed. They moved Dudley's bookcase into the room along with a few small soft toddler chairs. The toys and anything that would make it look like a nursery like the changing table stayed in the actual nursery. It seemed to work when they tried it out that first night. Not even Dudley cried about being in a different bed, both boys seeming content for the time being as they babbled in the language only toddlers understood.

The Dursleys while prideful had already decided they would not let that come in the way of their children's care. They had decided that long before they'd ever had Dudley when they'd been looking at houses and if she should go back to work after Dudley was born or if she wanted to be a homemaker. That was why they lived in the neighborhood they had as well. It was nice and modest with room for another child if they decided to have one. While they weren't living above their means, their checkbook always balanced out with enough left over for an indulgence here or there. That indulgence would now be reworked into the checkbook to where they would just be coming out even now that they had that second child.

He was frowning over his checkbook when a co-worker came into his office to drop off some folders and paused seeing the man glaring at the bank ledger as if it had personally offended him. Dropping the folders he'd come with into the man's in tray, he wondered aloud, "Alright, Dursley?"

"Why are toddler clothes so expensive!" They outgrew them so fast it was ridiculous! While the boys could share toys, it was just a fact that Dudley was a bit stockier than his cousin. Dudley took after the Dursley side with his size and it looked as if his nephew would favor the Evans'. Petunia was thin and Lily had been willowy. The boy took after them being on the skinny side as well as being shorter than Dudley. Both his nephew's father as well as Vernon himself were of average height but were of different body types which it seemed their sons had inherited. Even in his youth and before he was resigned to a desk job Vernon had always been on the side of husky. The doctor's appointment they'd taken the boy to had confirmed that he was just naturally smaller, something that Petunia had worried about until the physician had assured them he'd likely stay think through childhood only putting on more weight as an adult. While that was fine for now and since neither Vernon nor Petunia had thrown away any of Dudley's clothes, they were able to dress their nephew in those. It would however become an issues as the boys got older.

"Dudley outgrown his clothes already?" John asked laughing. He had a few children of his own so know how quickly they grew.

"If only that was the problem. No, Petunia and I received custody of her nephew. Parents were murdered. Lad was left with nothing but the pajamas he was wearing when they dropped him off." Vernon and Petunia had decided that they would be truthful to a point when asked about their nephew or Petunia's sister. While they could have said the boy's parents were ne'er-do-wells neither felt it was appropriate. They also felt that they would be doing Lily at least a disservice if they did. There was also the fact that they knew for a fact that the boy's biological father was alive but weren't sure about contacting him just yet. From his own childhood, he knew what it was like to be around someone who drank and he wasn't that keen on letting his nephew have the same experience.

"Poor lad, how old?" John asked deciding it would be bad form to ask for further details just yet about what had happened. He had known Vernon for awhile and knew the man didn't like sharing anything but good news about his family and boast about his son's milestones. He also believed just as Vernon that it was rather inconsiderate of the child service to not at least pack a bag with the boy's clothes.

"Same age as, Dudders." They were only a month apart something that had been a bit of mixed emotions for Petunia and Vernon had just been relieved that it hadn't tilted into anger and aggression. Her mood swings had been bad enough without adding in outside stimuli! He added, "He's smaller though."

"We might have some of Dennis' baby clothes still, I know Janet was wanting another boy," he mused with a smile. The man had one son and two daughters. "I could ask her to bring some 'round at lunch?"

It took a moment for Vernon to actually articulate, "That would be appreciated, Jenkins."

The man just gave a smile and nod before leaving the office. Vernon sat there dumbfounded before picking up the phone to dial his wife and speak with her. They were prideful people and it was a bit embarrassing letting someone else know of their struggle, but it was a relief to know that they'd be able to clothe their nephew. Soon it wasn't just John Jenkins but a few other generous employees at Grunnnigs that brought in clothes that were softly used that their own children had outgrown. When they'd learned of the Dursleys' nephew they even brought over a few items for the non nursery as well as playroom. In accepting the offers and not making a big to do over it, Vernon made new friends that never hesitated to help out in a pinch and Petunia made some new friends in some of their wives. The Dursleys gladly returned the favor of helping out the others if they could as not to be indebted at first, then because slowly they found they had friends. It helped to be able to ask for advice when it came to dealing with stubborn toddlers!

Before long it was December and they would be celebrating their first Christmas with their nephew who seemed just as captivated by the fairy lights as Dudley. They boys were able to toddle about on their own legs and were a bit wobbly and uncoordinated. Vernon in a good mood had taken the family out to drive and look at all the light displays. Naturally both boys got tuckered out and were soon sleeping in their car seats and had to be carried inside. On Christmas day they had been invited to a huge celebration at one of their friend's house but had politely declined. It was their first Christmas together so the other understood about wanting to have a quiet celebration at home with just the four of them. Suffice it to say, the boys had more fun with the paper then with their gifts until they actually paid attention. A picture had been snapped of them having fun in the piles of scrap paper that would adorn the mantle once it was printed and framed. Another would join it from New Year's Eve with the boys in paper crowns and giggling with their new friend Justin.

While the little family celebrated with cheer they had no idea that an hour ahead of them in Switzerland events were playing out that would shape and change their lives. Not to mention that neither party would know they'd be drawn back together in a few years time.

* * *

**AN:** Yes, I added some OCs but it'd be quite annoying to always have to write 'the man' or 'man one said this while man two said that' etc. I couldn't help it and had to use another flower name for Petunia's friend LOL. The next chapter will likely contain a time skip. Thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed ^_^


	3. Chapter 2

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

**Summary: **rip·ple ef·fect

_Noun_

the continuing and spreading results of an event or action.

**Chapter Rating:** K+

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Two (August – December 2002)**

This year would mark the beginning of the boys' years of schooling and it caused great debate between the two adult Dursleys. One of the things they had discussed was whether they should use the name Lily had given the boy and was on his 'muggle' birth certificate or if they should enroll him with the name _they_ knew and were likely to call the boy as it was on his other certificate. It was something they had talked about off and on for the bast three years unsure how to proceed. In the end they just ended up using the name Lily had wanted and letting the chips fall where they may. Their logic was that the boy would have the anonymity that the old wizard wanted by using the boy's 'muggle' name. Of course that didn't mean they wouldn't tell the boy his other name before those crackpots came to try and take him away.

The second thing they had talked over and were unsure if they should just put Dudley in preschool or if they should also enroll their nephew. While they had pride in their son, they had to admit that it seemed that the younger boy was the one to catch on quicker when it came to words or numbers as proven when they used to watch Wheel of Fortune together before the show got canceled before the new year. In the end they decided they didn't want either of the boys to feel as if they were being left out or receiving special privileges. That was how they were currently shopping with two very hyper four year olds for their school supplies. They had allowed the indulgence of buying the boys the shoes they wanted rather than the ones they (Vernon and Petunia) would have normally gotten them instead. Dudley proudly wore his new shoes that featured Pikachu. Dudley had gotten into Pokemon while watching an older child playing a game when they were dropped off at the Jenkins house to be babysat. The younger boy however favored light up shoes whenever he took a step.

Petunia had left Vernon in charge of the boys as she went to retrieve their crayons, glue sticks, and such that didn't need a big decision like their choice of backpack did. Each boy was able to pick out their own bag but told it had to last at least until they were in first grade! Blond and brunette heads had nodded seriously and were torn right away choosing then discarding what they wanted. Dudley had been the first one to settle and it was naturally after his new favorite show which would match his shoes.

"What's taking so long, Ned?" Vernon wondered looking down at his nephew who was biting his lip, head going back and forth as his gaze went from a Thomas and Friends bag to another that was white and had a purplish starry background with a dragon on it. Tears were almost in the green eyes as he said, "I like 'em both."

"You like dragons?" Vernon asked knowing this was true. The boy still had the dragon plush he'd come to their house with sitting on a shelf to keep it from getting damaged. At his nephew's nod, he asked, "And you like trains?"

Another nod. That was one of the reasons he liked the show. That the trains talked added even more allure to it. Of course he knew that trains couldn't talk in real life, something he didn't think he and Dudley needed to be told but Mr. and Mrs. Dursley had made sure they boys were 'grounded in reality' and knew make believe was made up.

"Want me to help?"

"How?"

"We'll flip a coin." Digging out a ten pee coin he held it up and had Ned decide which would be Thomas and which would be the dragon. It came up with dragon side showing which caused the boy to grab that backpack and stick it in the cart with a smile and a, "Thank you, Unca Vern."

After their shopping was done, Vernon dropped the boys off at their soccer club. The boys had gotten into the sport while playing with Justin but more often from children at the play park. Being four years old their games more or less was an exercise of trying not to laugh for the parents who actually paid attention to the children and not their phones. It was likely the boys got into the game as well because Vernon and some of his friends would watch games either at the Dursley home or one of the other men's houses.

With the boys at practice, the Dursleys decided to once again broach one of the two subjects they routinely avoided but knew they should talk about eventually. Each held a cup of strong tea in their hands as they both tried to avoid the subject and waited for the other to bring it up first. Finally it was Mr. Dursley who was able to get his courage up to state, "All I could find was a company address."

It had taken a bit for Vernon to try and figure out a way that he and Petunia could try and contact Mr. Stark, but the man's personal address was unlisted. The email provided on their web address wasn't one that he trusted as he wasn't sure who exactly would answer that email or take him seriously. Grunnings had their own email address for business that was answered by a secretary rather than the CEO. It wasn't as if the Dursley could schedule an appointment either in order to see the man since it was quite expensive to go to America and back without any surety that they'd be seen. There was also the fact that he and Petunia weren't sure if they wanted to give the man his son, but knew it was only right that the man at least knew he _had_ one.

Looking at his wife's lips thinning, he soldiered on. "Could send him a letter and a photo come picture time."

If they sent him a letter, that was their duty done. They weren't looking for a hand out as the boy was being well taken care of in a loving home. They hadn't been sure about this before, hesitating to contact Stark because of his reputation. Nor had they known if Lily had ever hinted at magic or a witch, both of which Petunia was almost sure he was unaware of. There had been that letter from that _Dumbledore_ person to consider as well.

"I suppose," Petunia finally got out stiffly. "When we take the boys to get their injections we can have them about one of those DNA test as well."

She was sure that with his womanizing ways that the man had at least one person trying to file a paternity suit. It was amazing he hadn't had more children than just Ned but the others had settled quietly or were content as the Dursley were just raising the child? While she was quick to judge and already had an opinion of the man, she had yet to say anything to her nephew about his father. She knew it would come soon where she would have to tell the boy that he had a living father and one that might not possibly want him, but for now all the boy knew was that his parents were dead. It would only be a matter of time before the boy started asking questions such as why he had his mother's last name and not his supposed father's.

While the Durlseys were talking of serious matters, the boys were having fun chasing the black and white ball around the field. At their age the adults didn't really expect them to actually behave like a real team, and had to keep herding them in the right direction. When kicking the ball, they missed by at least three feet each time. A few boys even forgot they weren't supposed to use their hands and would pick up the ball to throw it. All the children were having a great time and lots of fun which was the whole point in the kids' opinion. The adults just took it as it came and were happy when their team was heading for the right goal. Edward got smacked in the face with the ball once when a boy was throwing it back in play after the ball had been kicked out of bounds. Ned hadn't been paying attention as his attention had been caught by something in the stands. The resounding sound of ball meeting flesh then the cry of a four year old in startled pain had the referee blow the whistle and Dudley blinked in confusion until he saw his cousin crying. That resulted in Dudley pushing the boy responsible even though Ned wasn't hurt that bad more startled and the pain was starting to fade already since a four year old couldn't throw that hard quite yet.

When Vernon came to pick the boys up he was upset to hear that Dudley had been banned for a week for fighting. Feeling as if it was his fault the brunette apologized to his uncle, eyes shining with tears from guilt and avoided looking at his cousin who was sitting with his arms crossed in an angry sulk. "S'my fault."

"What happened, boy?" Vernon asked looking at his nephew in the rear view mirror. The boy's face was slightly red from the ball earlier but wouldn't leave a bruise and the coloring would likely be gone by the time they reached Privet Drive.

"I saw somethin'?" It came out more as a confused question since he wasn't sure if he'd really seen what he thought he saw. When he'd been waiting for the ball to be chucked back in, he'd glanced up and thought he'd seen a cat. It wasn't just any cat either, but one of the ones that weird lady down the street had. The neighborhood children said she had lots and lots of cats and that her house smelled like old cabbage and he knew Aunt Petunia didn't like her. The woman had tried to talk to him once and his aunt had quickly come and yanked him away and gave him the 'stranger danger' talk. He'd seen her cats come and go though and knew that or thought he knew the one he saw was hers. "I think the cat lady lost a cat."

Neither boy saw the warning signs that Vernon was angry at what he heard. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel and his face got a bit red but he took breaths to try and calm himself as he groused under his breath. He proceeded to ignore the chatter in the backseat as the boys talked until they reached home where they were immediately sent upstairs to wash. "Walk! Don't run!" he hollered after the boys who _had _started to run up the stairs but reduced that to a quick walk at the reprimand.

"They're watching us," he growled to his wife as she came from the kitchen wiping her hands with a dish cloth. Her eyes widened before her lips pursed as he told her about the boy seeing one of the woman's cat's. It made them very glad they had never asked the woman to babysit either of the boys and that they had plenty of _normal_ people to call upon should the need arise. "I always said there was something peculiar about her!"

* * *

School had gone much as they had thought it would go. Dudley was the more extroverted and had taken his cousin's hand to drag him over to the play area after they had put their coats and backpacks on their hooks. They made friends and played well with others for the most part. Both boys were slightly ahead when it came to naming their colors and counting. They were still four years old however and had short attention spans and would get distracted easily. Edward's favorite part aside from play time was when they got to spend quiet time to themselves doing what they wanted to do. He would go and lay in a corner and read to himself or whisper it to his cousin if he decided to join him. Both boys enjoyed building with blocks and then knocking them down by pretending to be giants. They made a few friends and Dudley became fast friends with a boy named Gordon who's parents had gotten him a handheld pokemon game.

September passed quickly into October and soon the kids were planning their costumes and looking forward to their classroom party for Halloween. It also heralded a Dudley tantrum. He'd been getting better to where he threw them less and less, but for the four year old this was important and why couldn't his parents understand? Tears were falling and he was red faced as he asked uncomprehendingly, "Why? I wanna dress up!"

Edward watched with wide eyes as he munched on his apple slice, gaze darting between his cousin and aunt who looked like she wanted to break down and have her own tantrum. "I said, 'No'." While Petunia wanted to give in just to get Dudley to stop screaming, she stood firm in the face of the boy making himself sick with crying. It was something that her friends told her she needed to do in order to give her son boundaries. She didn't know how to explain to the boys that they couldn't afford to spend money on something as frivolous as costumes that the boys would only wear once. Finally she napped, "Your father can deal with you when he gets home."

Sliding off his chair after his aunt had taken his plate to the sink, Edward grabbed his cousin's hand and all but dragged the hiccuping boy up the stairs to their play room. It helped to distract the blond until his father came home and the process repeated all over again with Vernon telling him in no uncertain terms, "No! And that's final!"

Twisting the hem of his shirt in his hands, Edward looked from one to the other of the adults, and whispered, "Can we make one?"

"What?" came the irritated response. "Speak up, boy."

Nearly flinching from the anger of his uncle, he almost looked down but remembered his uncle didn't like that. "Can we make 'em like in arts 'n crafts?" He and Dudley played pretend all the time with boxes and made their own world with them all the time. In school they learned to make robots and trains out of paper rolls and milk cartons. He looked from one to the other of his guardians hopefully as the two adults had a silent conversation with looks. Finally, Vernon nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose you can do that."

"Thank you!" He gushed happily. Petunia helped him get the things he wanted and needed from the recycles. Vernon helped him cut, paint, and glue things together. The adults did the same with Dudley who had been stumped for the whole week and kept changing his mind from one thing to the next until his parents got fed up with him. Finally, he settled on one with help from his cousin. That thursday both boys were excited to show off their costumes when it was time to change into them. Dudley was a scuba diver with painted plastic bottles for the oxygen tanks while Edward had dressed up as a robot. It was the first thing he could think of with what they had on hand at home. Both boys were praised by their teachers for their costumes.

That night something different happened. Before her nephew could go brush his teeth, Petunia kept him downstairs and had him sit on the couch with her. As if sensing the serious nature of what the woman wanted to say, Edward kept quiet as he stared at his aunt wondering if he was in trouble. Before he could start to get worked up and ask, she asked her own question. "Neddy, remember the stories from your mummy's letters?"

The boy nodded since he liked those stories. While the tales in the books his uncle and aunt read to him and Dudley were nice, he liked the ones in the letters best. He didn't know that his aunt left a great deal out of those letters and it had taken her quite some time to figure out how to make those into stories. Of course it had taken her courage to do so as well. Ned had a bit of a right to those letters as that was the only thing he had left of his mother. It helped too to tell the boy about the world that stole her sister through story. This way she wasn't denying him about the part of himself that he'd find out about when he turned eleven.

"Do you remember the story of the evil man and the nice family?"

He nodded once again. He didn't like that story but had begun to grasp that it was the story about his mummy and daddy. That the evil man made them go away like how the class pet in school had gone away. "The green light made them falled down."

That was something that the Dursleys hadn't counted on; their nephew remembering what had happened to his mother. Of course when the tragedy had been so fresh when he'd first been brought to them, they understood. However, they had thought over time he would forget and he did for the most part, but he still remembered a little. From stories her sister had told her and from what she could piece together of what Ned could recall, Petunia had realized that the 'green light' was the spell that could kill someone.

"That's right," she choked petting his hair before she took a steadying breath. "Your mummy and daddy fought the bad on Halloween. They died this night, three years ago."

Turning, she reached and picked up the candle she'd had there and the lighter they used to light the stove with. Holding the candle out she told her nephew they were going to light the candle. She tried to explain as best she could about how they would light it and remember Lily on this night. Petunia had thought her nephew was old enough to understand which was why she decided to try this year. She had to blink away tears when she heard Ned whisper, "Thank you for savin' me mummy an' lookin' after me an' Aunt 'Tunia, an' Unca Vern, an' Dudley."

* * *

Having been used to having two children underfoot it had been a surreal yet pleasant relief for Petunia when the boys had started school. She had found the time to do house chores and such she'd had to put off because she hadn't enough time. Then she'd found it a bit empty to have the house so quiet and had joined a sewing club of sorts with the neighborhood ladies and gossiped with them. Then it was back to the noisy house when the boys were back from school or soccer club. The boys were always overflowing with excitement and chattering and wanting to tell her about their day or even show off something they'd done. That was why when they came home and only Dudley was as energetic as ever, Petunia wondered what was going on. Ned would chime in here or there but stayed quiet and fidgety. That was one of his tells when he was anxious.

"Ned?" She questioned interrupting her son when Dudley took a breath between words. "What's wrong?"

"'M sorry!" he cried and teared up feeling guilty that he hadn't given the note to his aunt but notes were bad. That was what a kindergartner had said when he heard Edward and Dudley trying to figure out what the note was while they waited for Mrs. Dursley to pick them up from school. He didn't know what he did wrong but the teacher wanted to talk to his aunt and then she'd get mad at him.

"What on earth?" Petunia wondered while Dudley ran upstairs and brought back the note to give to his mother. He didn't want to give it to her and get his cousin in trouble, but he didn't want to get in trouble because he _didn't _give it to her either.

"Mr. Webster wants to talk to you," he said handing over the note to his mother who read it with a furrowed brow which morphed into a stricken expression as she read. Had Ned used his _strangeness _and been caught? The Dursleys had known there was a high chance that the boy had inherited it from his mother and had already showed signs if Lily's letter had been the truth. As they had done telling each other of their sons' accomplishments and milestones, Lily had told Petunia when Ned had caused his food to fly at his step-father with his _gift_. There hadn't been anything that they knew of while the boy had been in their home.

"Thank you, Dudders. You and Ned go play." Petunia worried about the note all day until Vernon came home and they talked about it. Both were apprehensive when the appointment came and they went to the school. They hadn't been able to find anyone that was open to watch the boys so had to take them along, not willing to let the cat woman watch them even though she had volunteered back when the boys had been in diapers. Ned was more anxious then Dudley who wasn't worried about it and headed straight for the toys when the Durlseys were greeted by the boys' teacher. It confused them that the men seemed pleased to see them and wasn't wearing the expression that such a grave situation called for.

"You must be Dudley's parents and Edward's guardians, pleasure to meet you."

"Right," Vernon replied. "How do you do."

The couple remained apprehensive as they looked about the room before taking seats at at the teacher's desk. All the other chairs in the room around the round tables were sized for the small children that inhabited the room during the day. There were a few chairs for actual grown ups as there usually was more than one teacher in the classroom at a time. Mr. Webster continued to smile at the confused couple. "You both must be really proud of the boys. They're both a delight to have in class, for the most part."

"For the most part?" Vernon asked not liking the implications.

"Dudley and Edward are both bright boys that are having some difficulties in certain areas. Tell, me do you read to them at night?"

"Yes," Petunia replied before Vernon could ask what areas the boys were having trouble in. "We let them pick out the book they want read."

"Does either of them read along with you?"

Petunia furrowed her brow while Vernon was getting an inkling where this was going and didn't like it one bit! The woman recalled Ned's mouth silently moving sometimes when she read to him, or a finger on the page following along. Dudley would look at the pictures and knew when it was time to turn the page on stories they'd read at least a hundred times. Seeing her expression, the teacher nodded with a knowing look. "What has that got to do-?"

"Dudley refuses to participate when it comes time for reading. He can recognize some words like his name, which I expect, but others he doesn't."

"Are you trying to tell me my son is stupid?!" Vernon blustered.

Mr. Webster seemed shocked that the man would get that impression let alone voice especially when the children could hear him! "Not at all, Mr. Dursley!"

"That what are you saying?"

"The words trick him," a young voice interjected. No one had noticed how quiet the boys had gotten or that they had been having their own heated whispered conversation. Edward now having three adult gazes on him shrank back a little before glancing at his cousin who was pouting.

"What do you mean, Edward?" Mr. Webster asked his student.

"The letters don't stay put." Edward tried to get them to understand that it wasn't Dudley's fault. If the words didn't work right for him, he'd get angry too! "Numbers stay put."

Understanding began to dawn in the teacher's eyes while the Dursleys were just as confused as before. So while the teacher thanked the boy and told him that he and Dudley should return to playing, he then explained that he believed that their nephew was trying to explain dyslexia. They would have to run some tests to see and keep an eye on Dudley over the next year to see if that was the case. After that the meeting went a bit smoother as Vernon was placated that his son seemed to be on par with his age group in most ares and as Edward had pointed out, was a bit ahead when it came to numbers, and behind when it came to recognizing and learning new written words.

"As for Edward, the principle and I have spoken and believe that while social interaction at this age is important and encouraged, it might be in his best interest if he was moved up a grade. He's ahead of his age group and we can see that he's a bit bored and it does cause problems when he doesn't want to participate."

Vernon and Petunia were of mixed emotions and thoughts upon hearing that. While they were stunned to hear that their son might have a learning problem, it was even more so to hear that the school wanted to move Ned up to Kindergarten already. They had thought it might have been a waste of money and time to send the boy to school with Dudley, and it was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow that they'd been right. It shouldn't have come as a surprise as they both knew that his parents were intelligent. It was natural for them to have a stab of jealousy that another was outshining their own son, but that was tempered by the pride they felt for the boy they had come to care for.

The Dursleys thanked Mr. Webster and told him they would think about it and let him know of their decision. Both knew they would likely have Ned move up a year after the holidays as it was suggested. In the mean time they would have to speak with the boys and ensure they understood what this meant for the both of them. They didn't want Ned to think he was smarter than Dudley or have their son feel inferior to his cousin. While they weren't really worried about that since the boys seemed to have already known that Dudley had problems reading and nothing came of that except Ned speaking up to make sure that the teacher knew it wasn't Dudley's fault.

When the boys came home with their pictures from school, one of each of them were added to the wall. Two wallet size pictures went into Vernon's wallet and Petunia's pocket book. While they mailed a picture of Dudley to Marge, they did not do that with Ned's since the woman had shown how she'd felt about the boy. She had angered both herself and Vernon when she had called Ned a runt and insulted Lily and Petunia's family. It did however give the Dursleys pause before they decided to send one with the letter they had written to the boy's father. They waited with it seemed baited breath for months until they realized that they would not be receiving a reply back. Again, they weren't sure how to feel about that. On one hand, they had come to care for their nephew and wanted to keep him with them where he could continue to grow into a respectable young man, on the other they didn't want to have to tell Ned that he had a father who possibly didn't want him.

* * *

Whenever mail came into Stark Industries it was sorted and screened; personal mail for Tony Stark even more so. Depending on the return address it was either immediately thrown away or sent to Pepper Potts his personal assistant (or as some would say his glorified nanny). She in turn would sort the mail even further to either throw away, respond to it, send it on to Obadiah Stane the company's second in command. Lastly if it was something that Tony needed to see and respond to, she ensured it.

That Christmas along with the usual invites and Christmas cards, a particular airmailed envelope fell of the cart of mail and slid under a cabinet. It lay unseen until after the holidays. When a mail clerk _did_ find it, it was placed in the stack of mail that had yet to be sorted. As the business generated a lot of mail and more kept coming in, it was buried under the pile that was marked as 'non urgent'. When it finally made its way across Pepper's desk it again lay for another day before it was opened. Just as she had opened it and was about to pull out the papers within, she was interrupted by her boss who had tried to escape from a board meeting. Sighing, the woman had set the envelope atop a pile without realizing which it was in order to inform Tony that _yes_ he _did_ have to speak with the board members and that it was important not to blow it off. Once again the envelope was forgotten as it got mixed in with the throw away pile.

* * *

**AN:** Yes, I changed Harry's name. Sort of. He still has it and will use it at some point. Hopefully you'll stick around to see there is a method to my madness. There's been a huge debate for YEARS about nature versus nurture. I think canon Harry is a mix of both. I am attempting the same which is why Harry/Edward's personality is slightly different than canon Harry's. No, I am not going to make Harry/Edward super smart and be into mechanical engineering and/or robotics; not more so than any other average kid his age is into it. Thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed ^_^


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: **I got a review from a 'Guest' who just said, "Horrible". To that guest if you're still reading this, you really need to work on that. You should say what you found so horrible. Was it the pacing? That I put the date the chapter is happening in? The short chapters? My K+ rating? That I have benevolent Dursleys? That I changed Harry's name? My grammar or mistakes since I know I did make some since I typed it up when I was tired and even professionals have typos. That I do time skips? That I haven't yet had Tony show up? That I made Dudley dyslexic? That I haven't really had anyone else from the magical world in there? You need to be more specific and elaborate. Otherwise how I can fix what is so horrible?

* * *

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

**Summary: **rip·ple ef·fect

_Noun_

the continuing and spreading results of an event or action.

**Chapter Rating:** K+

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Three (January – February 2003)**

The New Year brought about change for the Dursley family. Edward was placed in kindergarten where he seemed to thrive and perk back up to chatter like Dudley had about how his day went. Dudley had at first been a bit put out and didn't know how to react without his cousin by his side, but adapted becoming closer to his friend Gordon bonding over their mutual love of Pokemon and the gaming device. It also brought about an opportunity for Petunia who found a part time job to help bring in some revenue. She became a semi-professional in clothing alterations. She had learned to let out the hems in the boys' pants as well as the waists of Vernon's trousers. Now that he didn't go from work to the television to bed only to repeat the process every day, he had lost a little bit of weight. Some her sewing circle friends had commented and found her some clothing to alter. Her work spoke for itself and soon she had a steady stream of reliable clients.

Once the winter break was over and the sports started up again, Edward was found to enjoy being placed as the goalie on his soccer team. While he didn't like he had to stay put, he liked that he got cheers when he didn't let the ball go into the net. Dudley hadn't wanted to rejoin the team after he'd been banned but had because of his father until Vernon's co-worker John Jenkins suggested an alternative. He said his boy Dennis did swimming and it was never too young to start learning. He suggested he take Dudley to one of the practice sessions and see how the boy liked it. Vernon had agreed and they found that Dudley preferred that to soccer. So each boy had his own sport and would go to their clubs. Divided as they were in class and out of it, they both ended up making their own friends only sharing those that they had made during holiday get togethers or when the Dursleys hosted or were gusts of their friends' families.

February brought the boys to their first weekend away from their home. While they were too young to understand why people liked the fourteenth so much, Vernon and Petunia had been looking forward to it. They hadn't celebrated the holiday in quite some time and when Vernon had told his wife that they were going away for a romantic getaway for the whole weekend, she was thrilled. The boys were to stay with Justin's family in Hampshire while the Durlseys had their Valentine's Day romantic weekend. Rather than have a frantic friday, Petunia had helped pack up the boys' clothing and a few toys and such to take with them on thursday night. Their bags were by the door friday morning so when they came home from school and work, they could quickly load up the car and be on their way after everyone had emptied their bladders.

While normally they weren't allowed to eat in the car, the Dursleys made an exception that friday and allowed the boys to eat their snack in their car seats. They weren't allowed any drinks since they weren't sure the boys would be able to hold it until they got to Justin's and hadn't wanted to be rude and have to sue the toilet as soon as they got there. Not wanting to get yelled at the boys tried to be careful not to drop their apple slices and celery sticks. Not used to being in the car so long, they were both asleep before they reached their destinations.

After thanking the Finch-Fletchleys, the Dursleys were off and the boys were being shown to Justin's room where they could put their bags. Both boys hadn't been over to Justin's house before except once for a Christmas party and neither one of them had gone to their friend's room as there had been plenty of children to play with. Mrs. Finch-Fletchley had Justin show their guests where the toilet was and soon the three had their heads bowed over a game. They had played connect four with the loser sitting out and cheering on the next person until they soon grew bored and swapped to something else. After a bit Justin's room looked like a hurricane had hit it. There were games, books, and toys pulled off shelves and out of bins and strewn upon the floor. The bed was disheveled as if they'd been jumping on it (which they had until Edward fell off and smacked his head against the bookshelf). They had been pretending they were on Mars after Edward and Dudley had told Justin about the episode they'd seen on Blue Peter about the planet.

Soon it had been Dudley's idea to slide down the banister as they'd seen it on the television and it had looked fun. Naturally the boys had to try it out and were having a lot of fun. That was until Justin had stuck his head through the banister support poles and got himself stuck. He cried when Dudley and Edward tried to pull him and they weren't too sure about trying to push him through. While Dudley and Justin were trying to figure out how not to get into trouble while freeing him, Edward ran to try and get Mrs. Finch-Fletchley. Suffice it to say Mrs. Finch-Fletchley was not a happy woman when she came to check on the children. She was miffed why she hadn't heard all the racket the children had made since she was sure she would have heard the commotion with the large mess that had been made. What she hadn't known was that Justin had been afraid at first that his mother _would_ hear them. He had tried to get his friends to be quiet and they had tried their best, but hadn't succeeded with three rambunctious four year old boys. Unknown to them, Justin and Edward had both been wishing really hard for Mrs. Finch-Fletchley to not hear them and their magic had reacted to that desperate wish.

It was in Justin's room that Edward found her, running around the corner to be scolded for running and he took it in stride being quite used to being reprimanded for running in the house when he wasn't supposed to. "Mrs. Justin's mum! Justin's stuck!"

"What?!" She dropped the blanket she had picked up to try and straighten on her son's bed and followed the dark haired child to the stairs. Edward stared blinking when he saw that Justin was no longer stuck but was dangling from the supports and Dudley was trying to talk him into climbing back through the bars. Of course his mother overreacted in the children's mind's as she panicked and told her son not to and to, "Hang on!"

After looking around, she told him to let go and she would catch him. Justin of course responded with, "You said not to!"

"Well, I'm telling you now, let go!"

"No!"

"Justin!"

"No! I'll fall!" He didn't want to get hurt. He really didn't like to fall and knew from experience how much it hurt. At school he'd taken a tumble from the top of the play toy and had scraped up his elbow. Justin was crying and his mother was trying to get him to let go assuring him that she would catch him while Dudley and Edward looked on. But you could only hold on for so long and sweaty hands made it more difficult. Soon he was dropping not of his own accord, but before he had time to scream or realize what had happened, Justin found himself clutched in his mother's arms. "Can't breathe!"

Of course after reassured herself that her son was alright she let into him about how dangerous it was and what was he thinking? Of course this led to tears all around and Dudley to guiltily admit it was his fault. After a time out with their noses against a wall, they sulkily cleaned up the mess they made while the woman remade her son's bed. She kept an eagle eye on them after that. Despite that, the boys had plenty of fun and were behaved enough that Mrs. Finch-Fletchley didn't ask that the boys not return when the Dursleys had come to pick them up on sunday.

That night though was a trial as Justin's mom didn't have the same routine as the Dursleys did when it came to bedtime procedure. While it was a bit of the same after dinner, while Dudley and Edward usually weren't allowed fluids, Justin wasn't so restricted. They had set up their sleeping bags earlier and both boys had brought along their night time training pants. Both boys were pretty much potty trained for the day unless they were on a long car ride in which case they would wear pull ups. Justin had plastic underneath his sheets. Another difference was after they were read a story to help them go to sleep, there was no being woke up to go to the toilet. Their morning routine was thrown off too. Dudley was a bit cranky as was Edward who didn't like waking up wet. Mrs. Finch-Fletchley hadn't known what to do about baths and rather than have three of them, she lumped them all into the tub at the same time. Something neither Edward or Dudley appreciated.

It wasn't that they were strangers to having baths together, but as of lately they _had _been bathing at different times depending on the day. While two in the tub could sometimes be fun when they played together with the toys in their allotted time before they told it was time to get out; three was a bit crowded. Or at least it seemed to be for the boys but they didn't say anything and Dudley liked the detached shower hose that the Finch-Fletchley's had. He'd gotten used to showers when he went swimming. The only downside to showers he didn't like was that he couldn't play with bubbles or toys. Edward wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first being rained on inside but decided it was okay since it meant he got cleaner faster and was able to get to playing quicker. Justin was thrilled to have playmates although he wasn't used to sharing his toys in the tub. When it got to the point where the boys were more nudging each other and kicking to try and get more space from crowding and sloshing water over the rim of the tub, it was time to get out.

Dudley had a temper tantrum as did Edward who protested and cried when Mrs. Finch-Fletchley tried to put pull ups on the boys for the day time. Both insisted they were big boys and "I can use th' potty!" The Finch-Fletchley's when accepting to take the boys for the weekend had forgotten to ask about them being potty trained and if they still needed pull ups or not. It had been obvious that they had needed them at night and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley had laid a plastic sheet under the sleeping bags 'just in case'. She hadn't wanted to have to clean and wash the boys if they had any daytime accidents or if they did and ran out of clothes. While the Dursleys had left the number to the hotel they were staying at to be contacted in case of emergencies, Mrs. Finch-Flethley didn't believe that asking about the boys' bathroom habits could be called such.

"Please, just for today?" She tried to reason with them.

"No!" Was Dudley's response while Edward still had tears in his eyes. Then in child logic of she can't make me if she can't find me, they ran and hid from her. Justin thought it was a game and had joined in not realizing that it would cause his mother frustration. Mr. Finch-Fletchley was both annoyed as well as amused. Something every parent could relate to, having to fight off the smile when they were trying to lecture their child and not show how funny they found their behavior. In the end they finally found two of the three boys when Mr. Finch-Fletchley had told them if they didn't come out by the count of 10 they would be in trouble. Justin had been the first to make a beeline for his father knowing that tone of his father's voice. Edward was the second to appear around the five count mark and Dudley had been the last only coming out just as Mr. Finch-Fletchley said, "10," in a dangerous voice.

"What is the problem?" Holding up a hand when there was three young voices going at once, he cut in going, "Eh ah! Justin?" He asked his son knowing the boy would know better than to lie to him, not quite sure how the other two would react to someone else of authority.

Edward played with the hem of his shirt and looked down not meeting the man's eyes while Dudley had his arms crossed stubbornly over his chest with a sulky glare. Justin fidgeted but dutifully replied, "Ned and Dudley don't wanna wear pull ups. Mummy says they have to."

Turning to the other two who were half dressed since they each had been pulling on their own t-shirts while Justin had been getting helped with his buttons when they were informed of what their undergarments would be. They had already put on their underpants and had rebelled at having to take them off to wear something else they only wore at night.

"Dudley? Edward?"

"Don't want to!" Dudley petulantly stated once again without elaboration.

The man sighed and looked to the last boy who looked near tears again as he softly stated, "'M a big boy. I can use th' potty."

He'd already been teased a little while his classmates got used to him and him peeing his pants had been one of the things they would taunt him about. Edward hadn't had an accident but that didn't stop them. They had stopped when they realized that he knew when he had to use the toilet by himself. The only thing he had needed help on was using scissors in class. Then it eased even more when some of the children had even decided they liked Edward and became friends with him bonding over soccer and Blue Peter.

"So is Justin, he can use the toilet too. This is just in case. Don't your parents have you put one on sometimes?"

Both boys nodded reluctantly. It was Edward who replied, "When we drive in the car." Or when they were taking public transport when they went to London. Wiping his eyes he asked, "We going for a ride?"

It seemed that yes, they were. Mrs. Finch-Fletchley thought it would be best if they took the boys out rather than keeping them cooped up. She didn't want to imagine what they could get up to with the whole house as their playground for the whole day. The boys were still a bit reticent about having to put on pull ups but eventually capitulated. It became forgotten in the excitement of going somewhere despite the cold weather. The boys had fun at the park they were taken to and had played with some of the other children there. Soon they were roped into a game of pirates, then robbers, and soon it was time for lunch and a potty break. They ate lunch at a cafe which was another wonder to both Dudley and Edward who were used to eating take away and restaurants as treats for special occasions.

After they ate they played some more then went home. The boys watched a little bit of television but the adults limited that and had shooed them off to Justin's room. There weren't any more altercations until it was time for their bath and they finally caved and allowed the boys to have them separately. Sunday morning there had been no fits nor had Mrs. Finch-Fletchley try to force the boys into pull ups. Unsure when the Dursleys would come, they stuck close to home and made sure that their things were packed by lunch. It was around afternoon tea that they had come and apologized for being late hoping the boys hadn't been a handful. The Finch-Fletchley's assured them they were fine and Justin had a grand time having his friends over.

When asked how their weekend was, both Dudley and Edward excitedly chattered away to them as they were being led to the car. The boys were soon asleep almost as soon as they were placed in their car seats for home. They'd had a very eventful weekend for their first time away from their family for so long. The Dursley's had wanted to extend their mini-vacation as long as they could without being rude so had left during the afternoon.

They had enjoyed having the weekend without two four year olds or worrying about making sure that Edward did his homework or that Dudley was doing his reading practices. No temper tantrums or making sure the boys were in bed and not playing with their toys or sneaking down for a snack. No having to make sure the boys were bathed in the morning if they wet the bed and rousing them at night for a trip to the potty. It had also been about five years since they'd had any sort of privacy and not had to worry about little ears about. Nor had they had to contend with the boys popping up unexpectedly when they shouldn't be or wanting to know what they were always doing. It was very refreshing for Vernon and Petunia. Later when they spoke to their friends (separately of course) about it, both parties had told the Dursleys that perhaps they should endeavor to make it a habitual thing every so often or even once a year. They didn't have to go anywhere either, just a staycation where they stayed at home but sent the boys off for a weekend. It had its merits and the Dursleys discussed doing such a thing as the boys hadn't been the worse for ware and had enjoyed sleeping over at a friend's house.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry the chapter is short. Next one will be longer. There has just been lots of stuff going on at home and its been stressful. In short I feel like a chicken with its head cut off. As always, thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed ^_^


	5. Chapter 4

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

**Summary: **rip·ple ef·fect

_Noun_

the continuing and spreading results of an event or action.

**Chapter Rating:** K+

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Four (June 2003)**

School was out and both boys were excited about the prospect of having two months free from homework but Dudley wasn't happy he'd have to continue with his reading studies. He felt a bit better when his cousin said he would help him. At least he wouldn't be suffering alone. But summer also meant their birthdays! That was something that Dudley was really looking forwards to. Cake, presents, and that meant he got to invite more than one friend over! His mom and cousin had helped him make invitations and send them out in the mail. He had naturally invited his best friend Gordon as well as Dennis and also Justin. There were a few others from his parents' social events but those were very few. There were some he absolutely refused to invite and threw a fit if his parents suggested it such as Charlie. He was a bit of a prat and tried to boss everyone around and be the center of attention. Neither Edward or Dudley liked him very much if at all. When asked why he didn't want to invite him, Dudley plainly stated, "He's mean! I don't like him."

That was enough to convince Petunia. Oh she knew her son could be a bit of a bully sometimes to Ned when he was a bit cranky or really wanted his own way. Such was the case when it had been Ned's turn to decide what they watched and he'd wanted to watch his train show and Dudley wanted something else. The boy had tried to grab the remote and keep it away from his cousin's reach until his parents walked in and gave him a stern talking to. When it looked like he was still going to refuse and have a tantrum by throwing the remote, it had been Petunia's quick thinking that kept him from blowing up. She had suggested that if he _really_ wanted to watch his show, then he'd have to ask Ned to give up his turn, but if he did then that meant that Dudley would have to give up two of his turns to Ned. Edward who'd been in the danger of being sat on by his cousin until he'd agreed before adult interference, sat up and nodded. He liked that idea. It took the blond a bit more as he thought about it before he realized that that meant he wouldn't get to see his show tomorrow and thrust the remote at his cousin before stalking off.

While Dudley was thoughtless that way at times, he wasn't usually outright mean. He stood up for his cousin when children tried to pick on him for his shorter stature, and liked playing with him and helped (albeit reluctantly) with chores around the house. They worked together to clean their room and they would do their homework together, Ned explaining to Dudley what his was and Dudley sometimes helping when it came to maths when Ned couldn't get his numbers to come out the same each time. It wasn't all one sided either as Ned could be sneaky when he wanted to be. He'd been able to bribe his cousin with his dessert if he'd do his chores. Petunia would have never had known about it if it hadn't been for Vernon catching them once. The both of them were supposed to have been helping take the bag of grass clippings to the curb but Dudley was the one hauling the bag to the bins. Ned had been sitting on the stoop watching with a grin. Apparently he'd offered to give Dudley his pudding if he did it by himself.

Dudley usually didn't often say he didn't like someone because they were mean. Dennis had once pushed Dudley into the pool before he'd gotten the basic of treading water and it was lucky he knew how to dog paddle. While Dennis had been scared and apologized and Dudley had been angry at him for awhile, he hadn't resorted to saying he didn't like the boy. In fact they were still friends. So if Dudley was saying that a boy was mean and he didn't like him, then Petunia didn't want him around despite the boy's mother being a friend.

As Dudley's birthday grew closer, the more excited he got and was happy he got to pick out some of the treats they would have for his party. While they picked up some streamers and napkins and such for Dudley, Petunia had Edward pick out the colors he wanted for his party next month. Both the boys had gone to Justin's party which had a Star Wars theme. The boys had immensely enjoyed it and had run around pretending to be Jedi, Storm Troopers, and what have you. The boys teased each other and deliberately picked out something they knew the other wouldn't like such as Edward picking our a unicorn and 'innocently' stating he was sure Dudley would like it. Dudley retaliated by grinning evilly and popping out at the younger boy with a pinata held up as if it was a mask startling Edward. The pinata was of Gollum from The Lord of the Rings (not that the boys knew this). Dudley cackled in delight while Edward glared and Petunia came and lectured the boys for causing a commotion before she gave the pinata a look of disgust.

Despite getting chastised, the boys were having a blast. It was much better than being home where Vernon was in a bit of a mood. Because of his being friendly with his workmates and becoming friends with some of the neighbors, he'd go have a drink every once in a while and watch matches on the television. One of the reasons he endorsed Edward playing soccer. Vernon along with his closer friends were quite upset that Manchester United sold David Beckham to Madrid. The boys along with Petunia were happy to be away from that. It was also why the woman was hoping that her nephew would choose something other than soccer for his own party next month not wanting to listen to the men rant about it again. Nor did she want one of the children to accidentally break something be it window, bone, or anything else that was breakable in the house. Ned had already broke a vase accidentally when he'd been playing with the ball in the house when he was supposed to. It had been a present from Marge, but that was beside the point, she'd had to make sure he understood that sports were meant to be played outside. She would much rather Ned play out in the rain and have to throw his muddy clothes in the wash then have him break something because he was bored being cooped up when it was raining.

Thankfully, neither boy decided on soccer. When it came down to it, he'd gone with his obsession with the cartoon creatures he'd liked for the past year. Ned on the other hand went with colors more than anything else. Hopefully the boy wouldn't change his mind but she didn't think he would. It was usually Dudley who would change his mind from one month to the next what his favorite color or toy was. Just like at the beginning of the year his best friend had been Gordon then changed to a new boy named Piers. Last month it had changed back to Gordon because of some row the boys had gotten into and only logic that four-year olds knew and understood. Ned at least was a bit consistent as his he insisted that he had two best friends one of which was Justin and the other was a boy named Malcolm who was on his soccer team.

After they had gotten the party favors for the children and ordered the other things they would need, they had headed back home again. When they got there it was very clear that something was amiss as Vernon was staring at the phone that was still in his hand in a mix of bewilderment, frustration, irritation, and a bit of anger. Petunia shooed the boys upstairs as she wondered, "Vernon?"

Turning to his wife, he placed the phone back on its cradle and said as if he was still trying to understand that concept. "That was Marge. She's on her way for Dudders party."

"She wasn't invited."

"She was sure it was a misunderstanding..."

Petunia's mouth pursed because there _hadn't _been any misunderstanding of any kind. They hadn't invited the loud woman this year because of her derogatory comments about Ned and she couldn't seem to keep herself from having a drink whenever she was over. Vernon had some liquor but only got into it on special occasions or if he was having a really bad day and only after the boys were in bed or staying over at a friend's. While they hadn't planned on keeping the woman from her own nephew, they didn't want her around Ned until she could control her mouth. Nor had they really wanted her around Dudley unsupervised.

"I suppose it too late now," Petunia stated darkly knowing it was true if the woman had already left and was on her way to Privet Drive she wouldn't stop until she was imposing herself upon them. "She didn't say if she expected you to pick her up from the station?"

"That didn't come up." His wife didn't answer but he could tell by the expression on her face that she didn't like it any more than he did. Clearing his throat he felt a bit uncomfortable as he always did whenever it came to being between his wife and sister. "I reckon it wouldn't hurt if she took a taxi."

* * *

"Pepper?" Tony queried as he looked at the return address on the airmailed envelope that he was holding in his hand. When he glanced up at the sound of her heels against the floor, saw that his personal assistant was in the doorway, he continued. "Why am I looking at a picture of some kid and his report card?"

He'd come to annoy his assistant to try and wheedle his way out of having to fly out of the country to look at some boring company Stark Industries had acquisitioned and planned to merge with their own company. It was something that Tony was usually able to get Obi to do except the man was overseeing another company that looked like it was about to fold under. When he'd seen the envelope, he'd picked it up idly to have something for his hands to do while he was waiting for his favorite red head. Of course seeing his name on it had him opening it and seeing it contents caused the current query.

"What?" Confused, the woman came over and took the proffered contents from her boss. She hadn't gone through all the mail that had been placed on her desk yet. As she was looking at the grades and then the picture, Tony discovered the index card inside that just simply stated, _We thought you'd like to know that he made first string goalie. _Maybe that would explain the photo wasn't a school picture but a candid one of the kid clutching a soccer ball with a goofy grin on his face. Flipping the card over looking for any other writing he saw there wasn't any. Just the card, photo, and grade report.

Taking the envelope, Pepper searched the envelope for anything else but there wasn't any. "Why..?" Her eyes got large before she stated as if she should have known it was inevitable. "It's finally happened."

"What's happened?" Tony was confused and a bit wary of the woman who seemed to have a curious mixed expression of resignation, resolution, and exasperation.

"What do you think, Tony? Why would someone send _you_ a picture of a _kid_?" Someone was saying after his myriad and torrid affairs he'd gotten one of them pregnant. It really was only a matter of time even with the precautions that Tony took whenever he slept with someone.

"How should I know?" was laced with irritation as Tony did some quick mental calculations based on what age he assumed the kid was from the picture. No, he had to correct that since the report card said the kid was in kindergarten which meant the kid was five going on six. "Was I even _in _England seven years ago?"

Pepper naturally didn't know the answer to that question as she hadn't been working for her boss seven years ago but had started three years ago. In those three years she had come to know certain things about her boss one of which was when he was asking a rhetorical question or when it wasn't really rhetorical just him working through whatever he needed to processes. The expression on his face was answer enough that he'd come to the conclusion that he had indeed visited England seven years ago.

"Was that really all there was?" Pepper looked again at the envelope then searched through the rest of the mail but didn't see any other airmailed envelopes. She would have expected someone seeking monetary gain or at least five seconds of fame for having Tony Stark's child.

It was curious how blank Tony's expression went as he stared at the envelope lost in thought before he snapped back and told Pepper to remind him when he needed to leave for Fuller Enterprises. It looked like he was going to be going on that boring tour after all. First he was going to have J.A.R.V.I.S help him hack the files to find out what he could about his supposed kid.

* * *

The day of Dudley's birthday came with the boys being excited and not picking up on Petunia and Vernon's off behavior. Dudley had gotten his favorite breakfast treat of having chocolate crepes. He and Edward had been able to try them when they had stayed over at Justin's for a weekend and Mrs. Finch-Fletchley had taken them to a cafe for brunch. After breakfast was the boys helped as much as they could with decorations and games before they were taken to the local play park to burn off some extra energy before the other children showed up for the party. That way it would also give Petunia some relief from the boys being underfoot and time alone to relax before she had even _more_ boys running through her home.

The guests starting arriving just after the midday meal and Dudley was very excited as he nearly jumped up and down on the balls of his feet as he greeted the first boy and his parents. "Gordon!" After he placed the present on the table designated for them, the boys went out back to play and before long were soon joined by the rest of the guests. The adults mingled and talked while the boys had their fun and began the party games with pin the tail on the Meowth. Vernon and Petunia hoped that by some miracle Marge had changed her mind but both doubting that was the case. Marge showed up just before they were set to play the doughnut game. Each of the children were lined up in front of their hanging sweet when they heard the dog barking.

The rather large woman had set her things in the guest room that she had long ago come to think of hers as she hadn't known her brother to have anyone else stay over. She then proceeded to head out to wear all the noise was and saw the party in full swing with her current favorite dog at her heels. She smiled as she saw her nephew who seeing her lit up and ran towards her. Dudley knew she was always good for a great sweet, gift, or money. It was worth putting up with her giving him kisses and he was proven right as she had given him a fiver. Stuffing the note into his pocket he ran back towards his friends wiping at his cheek.

"Vernon, Petunia." she greeted her brother and sister-in-law.

"Marge," Petunia replied stiffly with a fake smile and her husband nodded in greeting with a nervous twitch of his mouth as he said, "Ah. So I see you didn't have any trouble."

"Mummy!" Dudley whined from where the boys were impatiently waiting for the game to start. While Vernon talked with his sister, Petunia went to start the game and soon there were a bunch of giggling boys with doughnuts in their hands. Not one of them were able to keep from licking their lips or trying to still the swinging sweet in order to eat it. Malcolm nearly made it to the end but then licked his lips and lost. Vernon was asking Marge how long she was planning on staying wanting her visit over as soon as possible. While she was his sister and he loved her, he didn't like spending time with her especially if she had some drink in her. To his dismay she had invited herself to stay for a week. He had a feeling that it wouldn't go very well.

He was proven right later in the day after the party was near done and the children were playing musical statues. The boys were having fun dancing around and stopped when the music did but Marge who said she wanted to help 'oversee' the game and call children out kept prodding Ned when she thought no one was watching. When she tripped the boy as he was going by and the music stopped disqualifying him, Justin having seen what had happened went over to his friend not caring if he lost. Justin wasn't used to grown ups being mean and whispered that Ned should tell his aunt or uncle. Not wanting to make trouble, he'd shaken his head and Justin not happy about it decided not to tell his own mother just yet. Petunia had already seen with narrowed eyes but before she could intervene the music had started again and the boys started moving again.

The rest of the party went off without a hitch of more games, cake (Gordon had gotten the coin in his slice), and opening of presents, the children went home leaving just the Dursleys and Ned. Petunia had written down what presents her son had gotten from who so he could write out thank you cards later. Dudley and Ned went to put the presents in Dudley's room while the adults cleaned up from the party. Rather Vernon and Petunia cleaned and argued while Marge went to give her dog some water and food.

"I won't stand for it, Vernon."

"What do you want me to do? Toss her out? She's my sister."

"And he's our nephew!"

It wasn't as if Vernon didn't know that. At one point that wouldn't have mattered as the boy wasn't blood related and his sister was. She was his family and always had been whereas Ned had only come into their lives four years ago. He'd already had misgivings about Marge knowing that she wouldn't be staying sober for very long. They had already agreed that they didn't want her here if she was going to belittle Ned or Petunia.

"Give her a day, Pet. She can go day after tomorrow if she does anything. Dudders hasn't seen her in a year."

"One day," Petunia agreed not wanting to upset their son either.

* * *

"May I say, sir, there is a remarkable likeness."

The A.I. was of course speaking of the photos that were on display that Tony was scrutinizing. The picture he'd received in the mail had been scanned and logged for J.A.R.V.I.S to use facial recognition to dig up anything else he could. Next to the holographic picture of the boy was one of Tony himself at age five. While he did agree there were some likeness to himself, he would also say that so did a good majority of dark haired children. They all looked alike to a certain degree until they reached a certain age and more dominate characteristics stood out. Tony stated as much going so far as quoting the statistics to J.A.R.V.I.S as his gaze went to the red headed child on the other side. It was a photo he'd gotten from Lily Evans' primary school.

Taking a look between the three photographs he could see that certain similarities, that the one in the middle shared with those opposite it. It was still too soon in his opinion to see anything concrete. Many people saw what they wanted and imposed that onto what they saw when looking at their children or others peoples'. That was why he was trying to keep from being biased and would take a DNA swab from the boy. Looking away from the photos he turned his attention to the information they'd been able to find out about Edward Evans and his family; the first of which was that the boy was younger than he'd thought.

According to the birth certificate he was born a minute before midnight on the thirty-first of July in nineteen ninety-eight. That would have placed his conception around October of the previous year. That would definitely put him in the time he had been with in England during a time period he was not proud of. There were plenty of other interesting tidbits on the paper including that he'd been home birthed instead of in a hospital in some place called Godric's Hollow, which Tony had flagged to investigate later. The registration date was more than six months after the boy was born which he found incredibly odd. The father's portion of the certificate was curiously blank. He wasn't sure how it was in Britain, but in America any name could have been put down and the mother wouldn't have to prove a thing unless questioned. The mother's side of course had Lillian Grace Evans and her occupation was listed as researcher.

Edward had no medical records aside from the usual childhood vaccines but again that had been started on November fourth when the boy was fifteen months old. A death certificate had been filed on the same day for a Lillian Potter with the same birth date, job occupation as Lillian Evans and registered place of death was Godric's Hollow from an house fire. Pushing aside the inconsistencies he perused the rest of the information they'd been able to find. Or lack of it. While what little he could find on the boy was due to his only being four almost five years old, he seemed to find as little about Lily as he had the first time he'd tried looking into her history back in ninety-six. He found more on her sister than he did on her.

While both Evans sisters had attended The Willows primary school, only Petunia had gone on to go to Parrs Wood High School while Lily appeared to disappear. He knew that she had been attending Cambridge when he'd run into her for the first time. As for the other sister after she left high school she had moved to London for a typing course before getting a job as a secretary at Grunnings. He knew about her husband as he'd been there for the wedding. It had also been very trying for Tony who'd had to try and be on his best behavior. Vernon had been a bit of a proud and boastful man and it had only been Lily's ire that kept Tony in line. That was until her ex had shown up.

Sitting back in his chair, he let the information he'd found process before he had J.A.R.V.I.S find out who owned the house and learned that the name on the papers was a James Potter. "So that's where the Potter name came from." That must have meant she'd gone back to her ex and had been the man he'd seen with her their relationship devolved. The only name he'd had back then had been some kind of nickname. Even with a proper name now, he hit a brick wall when he tried to find out anything else on the man. There was no birth or death certificates, no health or school records. No marriage certificate to Lily Evans. The man didn't exist.

"Jarvis, have Pepper put Godric's Hollow on my itinerary while I'm in England."

"Of course, sir. Will there be anything else?"

"Not for right now." Tony didn't know the Dursleys very well only having the barest interactions with them. "I think we'll play this thing by ear."

* * *

The atmosphere in the Dursley household was strained as Vernon and Petunia tried to have a normal breakfast while the boys usually oblivious could tell something was wrong so were quiet as they ate. Dudley and Edward had changed where they usually sat in order for the younger boy not to have to sit by Aunt Marge. The woman talked enough for all of them as she told them about her current breeding program and how the dogs were doing and the man who looked after them for her when she went on her trips. The boys weren't paying attention to what she was saying as they slid from their seats to put their dishes in the sink or that was the plan. What they hadn't counted on was Marge's dog being underfoot hoping for food from the woman. Neither boy was sure who stepped on the dog but they both had ended up tripping over it and fell.

"My baby!" Marge cried going to her dog to see if it was alright while the other two Dursleys went to the boys. After seeing they were okay, Petunia went to go get the broom while Vernon gathered the bigger pieces of broken porcelain. Marge was still cooing to her dog. "What did that awful boy do to you?"

She turned to glare at Ned believing it to be his fault ignoring the fact that it could have been Dudley that had first stepped on the canine. The boy shrank back as she toward above him. Vernon turned back from the garbage just as he heard the sound he knew all too well along with two gasps and a whimper of pain. "You clumsy oaf!"

Ned was holding his reddening cheek with tears in his eyes while Dudley was staring with wide frightened eyes of his own staring at his aunt as if he'd never seen her before. Petunia was clutching the broom with a white knuckled grip, her anger almost palpable as she glared at her sister-in-law. Vernon stared speechless before he felt his own hands curl into fists as his gaze hardened as his nephew flinched from his look, expression crumpling as tears fell. He hadn't thought he would ever get used to his son and nephew gazing at him in rapt attention and awe when he would tell them about how to check the oil level in the car or when they would carefully watch him change the tire when they had a flat one time. It had felt good to have them look upon him in adoration. Dudley's expression now, gazing at him waiting for him to do something as well as his nephew's hurt one solidified his decision he'd been balking at. He tuned in hearing Marge telling them that they out to do something about "..the runt's clumsiness."

"OUT!" he shouted and the boys quickly complied, running to their rooms. Petunia stayed silent watching like a hawk unsure where this was going but after taking a good look at her husband felt a swell of pride. His gaze hadn't wavered from his sister who didn't seem to notice that she was the cause of the man's ire. "I said, 'Out!'"

"What?" She asked in bewilderment.

"Out. We want you out of our house. We will not have you manhandling the children!"

The woman began to splutter and tell them that it was the boy's fault but Vernon interrupted her with, "I'll not have it! Not in _my_ home, and not with my boys!"

"_Your_ boys? That one was left to burden you. Poor Petunia here had to take up a job."

"Yes, _our_ boys," Petunia heatedly replied. In a sense it had become true. Before they'd had Dudley they had believed they would have another child, but complications at his birth made that impossible. There wasn't any way that they would have someone else carry their child to term; it was so unnatural! She had to be content with her only child until she'd was given Ned. If circumstances had been different she might have resented him and yes, blamed him as Marge was doing. However, that was not the case and she loved that little boy who would likely have a bruise from being struck for the first time in his life. Oh, the boys had gotten a swat here or there on the bum when they misbehaved, but mostly it was time outs and removal of privileges to drive the lesson home.

At the same time Vernon had begun, "That's nothing to do with you!"

"Why, I never!" With a haughty attitude believing she'd done nothing wrong, she went and packed her bags and asked them to call her a taxi. Vernon told her he'd do her one better and take her to the station himself as it was on the way to his work which he was now going to be late for. Petunia meanwhile went to assure the boys they were not at fault and to see how they were doing. She had also brought up a cloth with ice for Ned's cheek.

Petunia found the boys curled up on Ned's comforter the younger crying on his cousin who was patting him awkwardly as he hugged him. Seeing his mother, there was relief and he wiped at his own watery eyes. "Mum!"

Ned didn't look up until Petunia sat on the bed and gently said, "Let me see."

Looking up, the woman hissed and Ned tried to flinch back but Petunia was already in motion to hug him to her. "Oh, my poor, Neddy."

"'M sorry! We didn't mean to!"

"I know. Your uncle knows that too. He's not mad at you, but at Marge."

"Is she in trouble? I got in trouble when I hit Piers."

Petunia looked at her son who was gazing innocently back truly wondering if his aunt was going to be punished and what that would entail. When he'd hit Piers, Ms. Jones had made him go see the principle because he refused to apologize and had to listen to a lecture on 'why we don't hit people'. Seeing his mother's expression he ducked his head and mumbled, "He pushed Ned."

What he didn't tell her was that the fight started because Piers and Charlie had been making fun of Dudley and Ned had told them to stop. Ned had said that they were jealous because Dudley was better at maths then they were and he could listen better than they could read. That had caused Piers to push Ned and for Dudley to hit the rat faced boy. Charlie had pointed the finger at Dudley when the play teacher got there.

Lifting her arm that wasn't curled around her nephew, Dudley took the invitation and curled up on his mother's other side. "What am I going to do with you boys?"

"Give us hugs?" Dudley stated with a smile.

"Love us?" Ned imputed with a grin of his own looking up at his aunt.

"Let us watch cartoons?"

"Have you written your thank you cards yet?" Petunia asked knowing the likely answer to that and was correct when her son shook his head drawing out the 'No' clearly not wanting to do that.

"Write up your cards and then we'll see about taking you boys out. How does that sound?"

"Okay!" Dudley bounced up and ran to his room to try and get it over with as quickly as possible. Ned stayed where he was and winced when his aunt put the ice on his cheek.

"Is Aunt Marge going?" was Ned's quiet question.

Petunia pursed her lips her anger flaring again at the thought of that woman. "No. And you don't have to call her that, Ned. Vernon's taken her to the station."

The dark head nodded. "I'm going to help, Dudley."

While he did that, Petunia returned to the kitchen, cleaned up the breakfast mess, then made a packed lunch for them. When the boys were done, Dudley clutching the stack of envelopes, they went first to the post office to mail them, then just walked. She had glared at the cat woman who'd been there and staring at Ned with large eyes upon seeing the bruising cheek. Neither boy paid attention each looking on tip toes to see what new stamps were in. Once the mail was taken care of, they meandered with no clear destination in mind until Petunia decided to treat the boys to the cinema. When Vernon returned from work he wasn't sure what the the atmosphere would be like and found himself relaxing when he heard the usual noise of his wife in the kitchen and boys in the back yard. There was once again apologizing from Ned when Vernon had come to talk with the boys who told him it wasn't his fault. Then he asked how the boys' day went and they explained enthusiastically about their day and the movie they saw with the fish, sharks, and sea turtles, and how they wanted to see the pirate movie that was coming out next month. Vernon found himself smiling as the boys chattered to him relaxing completely the stress he'd been feeling melting away. He had done the right thing.

* * *

**AN:** I looked and couldn't find anything that said how long Pepper worked for Tony so I just winged it. If anyone else can come up with anything solid that would be great. As for the schools Petunia and Lily went to, well, Cokeworth was supposed to be an industrial like city like Manchester, so I put it in the Manchester area. Thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed ^_^


	6. Chapter 5

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

**Summary: **rip·ple ef·fect

_Noun_

the continuing and spreading results of an event or action.

**Chapter Rating:** K+

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Five (Last week of June)**

Being bored was one of the things Tony Stark didn't do well with. A bored Tony usually ended up being a PR nightmare for Pepper to put a spin on because he ended up doing something incredibly stupid. Or at least according to Pepper, sometimes Happy, and even Tony himself admitted ever now and then that he should have thought his actions through a bit more. Usually when on long flights he brought his own entertainment but it was the kind he didn't dare have while Pepper was with him. Which meant he was stuck going over some last minute information on Fuller Enterprises that his assistant thought he should know before they reached their destination. While he was one all for distractions, there was only so many times he could read the paperwork and discuss what he already knew before he couldn't take it anymore. He only agreed at first because it took half a day to get to Heathrow and when you added in the eight hour time difference, Tony was already going to be cranky by the time they landed. It was why they left a day for him to get over the jet lag before they went to Fuller Enterprises.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time to pretend to listen to Pepper while he kept his mind from dredging up old memories best left in the past. He regretted it as it looked as if his assistant was going to lecture him for 'not paying attention'. She'd learn soon that he could be a million miles away and still relatively get the gist of the conversation she was trying to have with him. It was something that his one night stands didn't get. He was fully capable of cognitive processing what was happening around him while at the same time allowing his mind to continue on a separate train of thought.

"Enough, Pepper." He finally complained. "I could recite this in my sleep."

This was a basic situation that while yes, he normally had Obi go to these things, Tony was just as capable. He'd take a tour of the building taking mental notes of the building; if it needed to be renovated or torn down and built back up more impressive then it was. Or if he'd be shutting it down completely and either moving the workers to one of his own company buildings or getting rid of them.

With a sigh, the woman complied setting the folder aside. "Alright then, what do _you_ want to discuss?"

"Its a twelve hour flight. You don't expect to talk the entire time?" He asked with slight horror only partially joking. "I mean, I knew women could talk for hours..." Tony trailed off when he saw the expression on Pepper's face. Right, no women jokes when it came to the redhead. What did she expect him to talk about? "I'm sensing there's something in particular you want to talk about." Or rather something that she wanted to _ask. _

As if she couldn't restrain herself any longer, Pepper chose to voice the one thing he didn't want to talk about. "You know who the kid's mother is don't you?"

"Obviously," came the sarcastic response. "How else does a kid come into being?"

Pepper wasn't impressed, her expression stating as much. Sighing, he stated, "Her name was Lily." She had been one of the reason he avoided England like the plague. Along with many other reasons why. "According to the certificate of death, Jarvis and I uncovered, she died of a house fire four years ago."

The pensive expression and the tone of his voice had the woman questioning, "You don't think she died in a house fire?"

Tony was quite a moment before he answered, "I'm not sure. There's too many inconsistencies and unknowns."

If there was one thing that Tony didn't like besides variables, it was not knowing the answer to something. It was one of his Achilles heels. Variables he could eventually compensate and work them out within a margin of error. This, whatever this was, seemed a bit more convoluted and would take a bit of picking at to unravel the knot of information he wanted that lay at the center.

* * *

Arabella Figg hadn't argued or tried to pursued Albus Dumbledore when he'd asked her to take up a house in Little Whinging a few months after Harry was placed with his aunt and uncle. The house had been up for sale and she hadn't an idea how the old wizard had procured it. She was just told where it was and moved in. She had gotten some half kneazle kittens to help her watch the house as well as some regular cats to help the kittens blend in. When she was a child if someone told her that she would grow up to be 'the crazy cat lady', she wouldn't have believed them. It had somehow just happened as she collected injured cats and nursed them back to health. Some ended up deciding to stay rather than be on their merry way again. Nor had she ever believed that she would end up on a long term surveillance of the wizarding world's savior. It had been 'just an added precaution' according to Dumbledore. Apparently he hadn't thought an extra set of eyes on Harry was necessary, but had succumbed to the pressure of one irate Scotswoman.

It had been an easy assignment for the old squib. She lived her life as she had been before moving to Surrey. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary while watching the Dursleys. She had seen how they didn't like Harry to talk to strangers, especially those that were of the magical inclination. She could have sworn that the woman near pulled the poor boy's arm out of his socket when Arabella had stopped him to ask him if he liked cats. One of her kneazles had a batch of kittens and she had been trying to find homes for them.

The Dursleys seemed to keep both him and their own son quite busy. She had thought perhaps that Dumbledore had been overly cautious when she had sent her here to live. That changed when she caught sight of Harry's face when she'd stopped into the post office collecting her mail. While her regular mail such as magazine subscriptions went to her home address, the letters she received from her family and Dumbledore were collected from the post office. It was there she had seen the massive bruise on the tiny boy's face. That had been something else she had written to the man about, but he'd waved off her concern about the boy not getting enough to eat. She'd caught the glare that Petunia had shot her and how quickly she tried to hurry the boys outside afterwards.

Arabella decided to write up a quick note and sent it on and awaited to see if Dumbledore would answer her. He hadn't come but had written and told her not to worry that he was sure that it was just rough housing gone wrong. There were a lot of ways to get a black eye without actually being hit by someone's fist purposely. Or it could have just been a fight gone too far between cousins. Arabella, concerned had decided to take matters into her own hand if she saw anything else that she deemed harmful to the boy. Unknown to her, Ablus had taken her concerns to heart and would be visiting the Dursleys to check out Harry's condition for himself.

* * *

Since being struck by Aunt Marge the day after Dudley's birthday, Edward flinched whenever his aunt and uncle made too quick a move and he always felt guilty afterwards. He knew they wouldn't do to him what she had. It didn't help that everyone thought he got the nasty bruise on his face from Uncle Vernon. It was thankfully summer so there was no school for him to have to try and explain to the teachers or the other kids what happened. Justin had at least had been at Dudley's party and had seen how mean Marge had been to him, so was able to back up Edward's story with his parents. Malcolm had also been there and had even spent nights over at the Dursley house so also could confirm that it hadn't been either Vernon or Petunia that had given him the black eye.

Neither Petunia nor Vernon liked the fact the boy flinched from them but could understand it would take a bit before he would get comfortable with them again. Edward had to be reassured by his uncle that it would go away, that it would just take time. Vernon in particular felt for his nephew and could empathize with him. Everyone dealt with things differently and where Marge had decided to follow in their father's footsteps, Vernon had gone the other way by choosing to comfort himself with food. It was a habit that he had yet to break but had cut down some since he had other outlets now. There was the fact he was trying to be a good example to both the boys. That was why he was trying to control how angry he was when he'd answered the door to one of _those_ people on a relaxing sunday. He and Petunia had been debating taking the boys to the park since the boys loved to pull either Vernon or Petunia into their games even if it was just to stand there watching them.

"What do you want?" He demanded with a scowl at the unwanted man standing on his stoop. It _had_ to be a wizard with the outdated clothing he was wearing. Petunia had pointed them out before and told him it wasn't just fashion, or an inability to afford clothes, rather they had no idea what normal people wore in this era. Aside from the poor choice off wardrobe he was set apart due to the fact that his silvery white beard went past the acceptable length.

The man didn't seem to take offense to his attitude, his demeanor still amiable as he asked if he could come in to discuss this. Debating the pros and cons of just shutting the door on the old wizard, Vernon reluctantly opened the door and ushered the man inside. The quicker they got this done with the quicker they could get back to their lives. Vernon's frown didn't leave his face as he turned to see the wizard had gone to the sitting room and was looking over the framed photos of the family. He seemed pleased for some reason when he faced Vernon.

"I am merely here to check up on the well fare of your nephew."

Bristling, rather than answering he demanded, "Who are you?" While the man had an idea of who the pompous man was who was coming to his home, he wondered if they'd have to suffer any more of these impromptu visits. The letter hadn't said they'd come knocking whenever they wanted. It had clearly been stated that Ned was theirs until his eleventh birthday. He and Petunia hoped that by that time they would be able to figure a way around the old codger.

"Albus Dumbledore," he stated pleasantly confirming the other's fear. "May I see Harry?"

"He's not here," Vernon stated with narrowed eyes as the wizard didn't get the hint that he wasn't wanted and had decided that he would wait for him. He had thought they would have more time before they had to tell Ned about his parentage and other name. Apparently, it had been a lot shorter than they had thought. It wouldn't do to let the wizards know if they didn't already that 'Harry Potter' wasn't whom they thought he was. He and Petunia had always thought something was fishy when it came to wizards. Lily had confirmed that in her letter to them explaining in detail _why_ she was in hiding and unable to come to them. The letter Dumbledore had left them with hadn't really explained much and would have left them as well as Ned ignorant of what to expect. He didn't appreciate being hoodwinked, by wizards no less.

_'Maybe I should look into getting mobiles,' _Vernon thought as he glowered at the old wizard not minding that he was being rude and inhospitable. He could have applied for a company mobile, but he hadn't thinking it was a frivolous expenditure. Now however, he wished he had so he'd be able to warn his wife what to expect and to have the boy play along with whatever game the headmaster was playing.

The men sat in silence for what seemed an age but in reality had only been at most a half hour. The key in the lock turned and soon Petunia and the boys were through the door but paused upon seeing who was in the sitting room. Quickly, Petunia ushered the boys into the kitchen to 'help' her with the take away they brought back. Whispering urgently, she knelt to speak in her nephew's ear. "We'll explain later, for now, your name is Harry."

Bemused, Edward nodded as his aunt repeated the instructions to 'play along' to Dudley. They entered the sitting room with Ned staying close to his aunt as he stared at the stranger. After having an adult he knew and trusted treat his cousin the way they had, had caused the boy to be even more protective of the boy. To Dudley, he was supposed to protect him as he was older and bigger than Ned. It didn't matter that they were in different grades and had even gotten Malcolm and Gordon to help him look out for his cousin. Seeing how people looked at Ned since Aunt Marge had hit him, Dudley moved closer to his cousin, expression mulish as he set his jaw with narrowed eyes. He didn't like how the man was looking at Ned so took a more protective stance.

"Ah, Harry. It's good to see you again, my boy." Albus eyed the child and saw how he pressed back into his aunt's legs. A smile made its way to the old man's face noting the actions of Harry's cousin. He'd heard that Harry was rather shy but he could see where Arabella was worried. While Dudley wasn't overtly obese, he was a tad husky and there was a definite difference between him and Harry who was of a slighter build.

Confused, the boy asked, "I don't remember you?" He was confused and didn't know what was going on but knew he'd learn. His aunt had said she'd tell him later so she would so he didn't really worry about that. Being raised to be polite, he was more concerned with upsetting the man because he didn't remember him. Was he supposed to? There were a lot of adults at the functions sometimes that his aunt and uncle went to. Dudley and he paid more attention to the kids and the food.

"Last time I saw you, you were an infant."

"Um..." Edward wasn't sure what he was supposed to say so ended up stating unsure, "Okay?"

"How are faring?" At the boy's head tilted in confusion, he tried to ask differently. "How are you enjoying your summer?"

Blinking, the boy shrugged but then seeing his uncle mime him to talk, he looked back at the old man and said, "I like no homework."

Chuckling, Dumbledore stated, "Many of my students would agree with you."

"You're a teacher?" Dudley asked with a doubtful look. None of the teachers at St. Gorgory's were as old as this man. He was _ancient_! When the man nodded, he dubiously asked, "Of what?"

"I'm headmaster at Hogwarts."

Edward frowned in thought, knowing he'd heard that name before. He looked up at his aunt who didn't look very happy. "The magic school?" he asked her rather then the stranger. She looked down at him briefly and got out a tight lipped, "Yes."

Nodding, he said, "Okay." He'd heard about it from the letter/stories his aunt read to him. He might be young, but he could tell neither of his guardians liked the teacher person so he instead stated, "I'm hungry. Can me and Dudley eat now?"

Nodding since she had told them they could eat when they got home, Petunia stated, "If you'll excuse us, the boys need to eat."

"Of course, of course," Albus smiled eyes twinkling as Harry looked back at him as he and the blond were ushered back into the kitchen. He had expected more of a reaction then he had when he'd told them he worked at Hogwarts. Apparently Harry knew about the school which was good, how much he knew was debatable. Turning to Vernon he was a bit more serious as he asked, "What happened to his face?"

"Its been dealt with," Vernon stated not wanting to air his family history. It was none of the old man's business. He had dealt with it and it wouldn't happen again. Marge had been banned from his home and only allowed to see Dudley with supervision in public places. "It won't happen again."

"I must ask if either one of you-"

"How dare you!" Vernon snarled justifiably angry at the insinuation. "Get out of my house!"

"You must understand how it looks," Albus tried to placate the man to get him to see his side of it. Vernon's face got redder as he glared at the wizard working himself up for a tirade. "However, I don't believe that you hurt him," he tried again causing the other man to pause. While he didn't condone it, the old wizard knew there were times when some underhandedness was needed. As such, he'd gleaned from both his and Harry's mind that it hadn't been either of his guardians that had hurt him but the boy's paternal aunt by marriage.

When Arabella had told him of her suspicions, he'd waved them off from what he'd seen and felt of the wards around the Dursley home when he'd dropped the boy off. Nor had the wards he'd added himself weakened or vibrate at all to let him know that the child was in any serious peril. From this brief interaction with the family he could see that he had chosen well to place the boy with his Aunt and Uncle. While he might have had doubts from what he could remember or heard from the Marauders, James and Sirius in particular; he could say he was relieved to find his doubts unfounded. Harry seemed healthy, happy, and loved by his maternal family. Having seen many children ranging from eleven to eighteen, Albus knew that some children stayed rail thin throughout their lives no matter how much they ate.

"You don't?" Vernon asked suspiciously. Even some of the neighbors had a glimmer of doubt about Vernon's innocence when it came to Ned's shiner. It had only been those that interacted with the Dursleys and the boys regularly that had steadfastly believed neither adult could harm the boys that way.

"No. In fact, I'm satisfied with the boy's care in your hands. I look forward to seeing him again in six years."

Vernon grunted but didn't comment one way or the other. If he and Petunia had their way the boy would be kept away from that school and the manipulations. While he might not have liked his wife consorting with her sister at first, nor put any thought into whatever it was they discussed, his mind had been changed. His wife had told him about some of the things Lily had confessed to her as well as some of those letters of hers. There was a reason he and Petunia didn't like wizards or want anything to do with them. From what he'd learned, he couldn't see how anyone would send their children away to that _school_ year after year.

After bidding him a good day, the wizard made his exit and if Vernon shut the door a bit harder than necessary, he couldn't really be blamed could he? Griping under his breath, he tried to calm his anger before he joined his family in the kitchen to try and salvage the day.

* * *

Pepper watched as her boss tinkered with his phone knowing that was his way of sorting his thoughts as well as distracting himself. She'd found it to be his 'nervous tic'. They had flown out of California on Wednesday and arrived in England the next day. Pepper had wisely set up the appointment to tour the factory on Monday giving Tony the weekend to adjust to the timezone. It also gave him time to dig up any maps or any other information he hadn't had previously before leaving Malibu. Arching a thin ginger brow she wondered if Tony had gotten around to deciding how he was going to approach the guardians of his 'son'. That they were in the same country would cut down on the travel time a letter would take, but she was relatively sure he'd have her give them a call. What would be said was still up in the air as Tony tried to figure that part out. He might just delay it until after he'd dealt with everything else first before attempting to approach the Dursleys.

"This is giving me a migraine. Nothing makes sense!" Tony finally burst and sunk into the back of the couch in their suite. The phone lay on loosely in his hand as he glared up at the ceiling before shutting his eyes. Just as when he was back home, he couldn't find any such place as Godric's Hollow. He was beginning to wonder if it even existed.

"Tony?"

Lightly tossing the phone onto the coffee table he gestured to it lazily. "Take a look." Sitting up, he watched her carefully, elbows on knees, chin propped on his crossed fingers. Saw when her brows furrowed seeing the results he'd gotten from all his and J.A.R.V.I.S' hacking. There were no towns, cities, or suburbs listed on the map of either Great Britain or Ireland. _If _such a place as Godric's Hollow existed then it wasn't listed on any paper or electronic map that was readily attainable. The silent fantasies he'd used to try and piece together the puzzle that Lily Evans presented resurfaced in his mind again. When he was younger he'd mused about her being a spy and having gone to a spy school in order to account for the huge blank spots in her history. He'd believed that if she _was_ a spy then her superiors were rather incompetent not to fill in those holes with fake papers. He'd forgotten the odd name she'd given him for her high school that was supposedly in Scotland, only recalling that there was no such place when he'd looked into it.

As unlikely as it seemed, her being a spy was as plausible as anything else once he'd really looked into her Cambridge transcripts, Tony had been in for another shock. They like everything else seemed to be nonexistent. Yet, at the time he had been sure he'd seen her name on the students list when he'd looked into her the first time when he'd decided to get a bit more serious in their relationship. With the new information or lack of it, he was beginning to wonder if Godric's Hollow was some kind of code.

"Maybe you should focus on what you're going to say to the Dursley's instead?" Pepper offered. Knowing Tony, he'd likely have this puzzle going on in the back of his mind even as he worked other problems. The man relaxed back into the couch even as he groaned petulantly, "You do it."

Pepper sighed in exasperation as she went to the other room to place the call while Tony stayed on the couch letting his mind wander. A frown crossed his face as he quickly sat up and grabbed the card key for the room and shoved it into his pocket. Knowing he'd have an irate red head when he got back didn't deter him from escaping for a bit. He was even being responsible and taking along a body guard rather than trying to ditch them.

* * *

**AN:** Apologies for taking so long to update. There have been hectic things going on such as my mom looking into fostering children. Lots of information to process. Also, I was back on my arm crutches for a bit and having to remember to take my meds every day. LOL. Thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed ^_^


	7. Chapter 6

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

**Chapter Rating:** K+

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Six ( Monday June 30th)**

Yesterday had been a very stressful day for everyone in the Dursley household and today wasn't starting off any better at first. Usually Petunia would try and get appointments set up so the boys would be seen the same day within an hour or so of the other. Unfortunately, their had only been one opening in the dentist that day which was why Edward was going to work with his uncle while Dudley had to go with his mother to the dentist. Normally, one of the neighbors or a friend of the family would have taken Edward for the day, but with all the upheaval of the previous day, they thought it best if their nephew stay with Vernon. Dudley wanted to complain and whine how unfair it was, but Edward was actually relieved that he'd be with his uncle rather than having to go to the dentist. It wasn't just the fact that he hated that nasty paste that they had to squish in their mouths with the foamy mouth thing either. Sure, the dentist gave you a choice of which flavor to use, but they were all nasty and made the boy want to gag. Better it was his cousin that had to suffer today rather than him.

Edward had packed a coloring book, a pack of crayons, a couple books and a few toys along with the lunch his aunt made for him in his lunch box. He'd huffed when the woman had told him to be sure to take a change of clothes 'just in case'. He'd yet to have an accident! He was fully potty trained and was only a month away from being five, thank you very much! Aunt Petunia gave him 'the look' though so with a sullen expression he'd resentfully went and grabbed another set of clothes and crammed them in his backpack with a glare. Dudley had smirked at him and Edward stuck his tongue out at the boy causing the smirk to morph into a grin.

"Everyone got everything then?" Vernon asked as the family exited the house so he could lock the door.

"Yes, I've checked Dudley's bag as well as Ned's." Petunia knew her nephew and had made sure he'd actually packed the clothes she'd asked him to. She wouldn't have put it past him to say he did but stuff them under his bed or somewhere else while they weren't looking. "Don't forget to pick up the dessert for tonight."

At the reminder that they would be having guests for dinner, Vernon just grunted unhappily and got his family into the car so he could drop off his wife and son before going to work with his nephew. Yesterday after they'd gotten rid of one hassle and had been eating before their jaunt to the park, they'd received a phone call they'd never expected to get. Their Sunday had been one where they'd had to explain to Ned about his step-father's world in more depth than they'd done the past four years. How Lily had always wanted and planned on naming her son Edward James Evans. James had wanted to name him Harry James Potter and had done so when he'd adopted him. Petunia hadn't told her nephew how angry Lily had gotten when he'd done that as well as many other things that were left omitted from the letters that were sent to her. It was explained in a way that he would understand that since he'd been adopted by a wizard, his magic had accepted him as a Potter and that was what the magical world knew him as. Then there was a bit more in depth explanation about the evil wizard that had killed James and Lily. How in order to try and protect Ned, he'd been sent to his mother's world where the magical people wouldn't look for him and under the name his mother had called him.

Of course they'd also had to tell him about his birth father after explaining that James had been his step-father. Ned had been upset since he'd thought both his parents were dead. With his limited knowledge he'd believed that if you had a step-parent it was because birth parent was either dead or divorced. So naturally he'd asked if his mother had been divorced from his father or if he was dead. When he'd learned it was neither they'd had to tell him that he was alive and was actually an American. It had been hard to tell the boy that the man hadn't known about him after Ned's soft and hurt, "Didn't he want me?"

Naturally that was when the bloody phone had to ring and they'd learned that the man was in England and had wanted to meet with them. Vernon learned that Petunia had sent the man a picture they'd taken at one of Ned's games, along with a copy of the boy's end of year report. She hadn't thought he would actually reply as he hadn't when they'd sent the school photo or responded to the letter that had accompanied it. Since they'd been talking about the subject, Vernon hadn't tried to hide the phone call and the family had stayed quiet as they listened to one side of the conversation. When he'd hung up, he'd told them that that had been Mr. Stark's assistant. They'd planned for the man to come introduce himself to the boy on Monday evening for him to get a cheek swab and see how things went. Then on Tuesday when they didn't have any appointments for the boys Mr. Stark could come by later in the morning to give Ned a night to think about everything. The day would be spent with the two getting to know each other. It would give the Dursleys a day to breathe and try and find out how Ned felt about everything since he'd been quiet since the information dump on Sunday. Well, he'd been quiet after he'd angrily blown up at them and wanted to know why they hadn't told his birth father sooner. That bout of anger had caused a melt down when he'd accidentally used his ability to vanish. They'd learned he'd somehow teleported to the park. He'd been scared and very apologetic when he'd come home unsure what to expect from Vernon and Petunia. Ned had only ever used his ability once before that they were aware of and that had been when he'd caught a bout of the flu.

After having been reassured that he wouldn't get punished for something he couldn't control, Vernon had sat down with his nephew and gave him a watered down version of how he'd grown up. About how he wasn't sure what kind of man Ned's father was, but didn't want to risk it. After having experienced Marge's (since he was told he didn't have to call her aunt) slap, the boy could understand. Vernon had also explained that it wasn't fair though to keep that secret from Mr. Stark about him having a son. When Ned had asked about what if he'd be like Marge, Vernon had countered with maybe he wasn't. That maybe Ned would help him change since it had been Ned and Dudley that had helped Vernon change. That confession had caused the boy's eyes to go wide and Vernon to smile and since then Ned had been quietly contemplative.

He seemed rather excited however to be going to the office with him. This wouldn't be the boy's first trip, but it wasn't a regular occurrence. It had struck the man's humor as well as pride after the first time Ned had been to the office with him and wanted a lamp just like he did for his own desk at home. The last time the boy had accompanied him he'd stayed in the corner out of the way entertaining himself until he was either hungry or had to go to the toilet. He was certainly much quieter than Dudley. His son would grow bored but would actually pay attention when his father was doing the ledgers. The boy would either stand on tiptoes to see what his father was doing or sit in his lap. When he wasn't pressed for time, Vernon would sometimes explain the numbers to his son and even allow him to do some of the maths.

When they got to the office, Edward greeted and returned greetings of the adults that he knew or that said hello to him. He went to what he'd dubbed 'his' corner of the office behind and to the left of his uncle's desk. This way, he could look out the big window if he wanted to. He'd done that before when he'd grown bored of reading, coloring, or playing. He'd watch the movements below and sometimes he'd just allow his imagination to run wild as he gazed down at the tiny specs wondering what they were doing or where they were going. He'd made up a game where he would make up a name for a person or persons if he chose a car and would image out exactly what their day would be like and what they'd be doing. Not everything was normal, oh no. Sometimes he'd imagine the person or people were on their way to an adventure.

There was even a big cushion pillow and a small blanket that was in the corner for him when he got tired and wanted to take a nap. His uncle had gotten them the first time he'd ever had to bring him or Dudley to the office. When the boys weren't there to use them, the cushion and blanket were kept in the coat closet. If Edward felt sleepy, all he'd have to do is go to the closet and pull out the cushion and blanket and allow the drone of his uncle's voice as he made sales lull him to sleep. That had been the routine. Today, would be different. Today, Edward had a lot to think about as he sat and looked out the window. Somewhere out there was his father and he was coming tonight to see him.

* * *

Today was utterly boring. It had gone exactly as Tony had known it would go. He'd been roused from bed from Pepper a few hours after he'd actually gone to sleep. There had been numerous cups of coffee and the patented mixture of disappoint, exasperation, and attitude that was Pepper Potts as she'd herded him to the car. Despite him trying to tell her to relax, she didn't and wouldn't until the whole deal was done. To try and change the subject and because he'd generally wanted to know, he'd asked, "So, what time are they expecting us?"

"Nine o'clock, it hasn't changed." Pepper frowned at him wondering if he'd had too much to drink when he slipped out last night leaving her to speak with the Dursleys by herself before she realized her mistake when Tony stared at her. Before she could correct herself, he stated as if it should have been obvious which it was when one considered Tony and his priorities. "I know what time we're meeting Fuller. I meant the kid and his family."

"Tomorrow about eleven o' clock before lunch," Pepper replied after checking the schedule missing the look herboss sent her at finding out he had to wait another day.

"Tomorrow?" While he knew that not everyone would be able to drop everything just because he'd asked, even if they were far and few between, it was still rather annoying. As anxious as he was even if he wouldn't let others see it, Tony was still curious and impatient and thought he'd be able to get through today with the thought that he'd get to see the kid later. As it was, he'd need a day for the DNA results to be checked and confirmed that he was indeed a father. That word alone caused him to twitch even if it was mentally.

"Well, tomorrow is the soonest they could have a most of a full day free. They had agreed to dinner tonight so we could get the swab, for you two to meet and answer some questions I'm assuming." She didn't even want to get into how she'd had to talk quickly in order to get them to agree to the quick meet and greet let alone allowing Tony to tag along the entire day with the family. Pepper wasn't even sure if the kid even knew about what was going on. All she had known was that Vernon Durlsey after learning who she worked for and the reason behind her call had been very stiff and slightly rude. The rudeness she could pass off as perplexed with the whole thing. In fact, she was rather surprised that they had agreed at all for her boss to intrude upon their day but had to give it to them that they weren't changing their schedule for Tony. That if he wanted any chance to talk to the kid, he'd be the one to have to change his agenda to match theirs.

At learning that he didn't have to wait until tomorrow Tony perked up a little. It seemed like today wouldn't be a complete loss. Although it was still a bit too early to tell but he was hoping that his meeting with his potential progeny didn't go south. He could fret about his inadequacies as a father later, after he'd been bored to tears with Fuller.

"Dinner, huh? Haven't had an English dinner in years. Should be fun."

* * *

Petunia was feeling stressed out and pressed for time which was making her a bit irritable. She as well as Vernon had been brought up where when you had company you served them the best. With having to take Dudley to the dentist which had _not_ been fun in the slightest as her son was sulky that he had to go while Ned didn't. Telling him that Ned had an appointment next week did not cheer the boy up at all as he stayed in a mood until they reached the dentist. He'd been sidetracked by some comics that he'd looked at while Petunia had checked them in. Then he'd wanted to know if he could have some fish. When she'd said not tonight that maybe tomorrow he could have some fish and chips, he'd told her he didn't want fish to _eat _but he wanted them as pets. That had thrown her for a loop. When she'd inquired why, he said that most people had pets and fish were pretty and that neither Vernon nor her would have to take care of them. Fish didn't have to be taken for walks, or shed, didn't have claws, and wouldn't get underfoot to trip on. He'd actually had a good argument, but she told him he'd have to ask his father. At that her son had gone back into sulking and stating that that meant no.

After the dentist, she tried to get Dudley to play quietly after he'd had his snack while she got started on dinner. Naturally without Ned there to distract him, he got bored after so long and wandered back into the kitchen to watch his mother. Climbing onto his chair, he kneeled on it, hands clutching the backrest as his eyes followed his mother's movements. "Will dad let me have fish?"

"I don't know," Petunia replied distractedly as she seasoned the roast and stuck it in the oven. She had learned from trial and error from the early years of her marriage with Vernon on how to get all the food prepared and ready to eat at once. Of course it had been many many tries to learn how to make a decent roast as well since she only had cook books to go off of and they all naturally had variations and contradictions in them. Thankfully Vernon had weathered it out with her trying any of the meals she made and giving her honest critique.

"I want fish."

"Why?"

When she didn't get a verbal response, Petunia turned and asked her question again and got a shrug from her son in reply. He didn't tell her that Ned had told him about the class fish they had and that after seeing the movie Petunia had taken them to weeks ago had caused him to want them. They were pretty and didn't take up much room. He could put them on his desk and they'd be his since he had his own room now. Ned had gotten his own room since he'd be going into grade one come fall and would 'need to concentrate' and that way since they had different friends and wanted to do different things sometimes. While he knew that his cousin liked fish, that was why they were supposed to go to the aquarium tomorrow, he didn't know if he would want fish as pets. Dudley also didn't voice that a fish couldn't run away and that it sounded easy to take care of. He didn't have to be gentle with a fish like he was always told to be when he was around pets of his friends.

"We'll see," his mother finally answered and he smiled while she shooed him out putting on a Pokemon movie for him knowing he'd stayed glued to it. She wasn't sure if Toy Story was such a good idea after the reaction the boys had when they'd watched it the first time. A smile twitched at her face as she went back to the kitchen recalling Ned and Dudley prodding their toys and trying to catch them moving on their own.

* * *

The morning was predictably boring with Tony mentally mapping out the building, taking note of the employees, and having Pepper mark certain files. With the tediousness behind him, he had hours to fill until they were due to arrive in Surrey. Pepper made sure they left in plenty of time so they could find the place as well as bring a bottle of wine. Something that Tony would have overlooked due to the fact that he didn't usually worry or care about such niceties. She had been surprised Tony had even asked about the wine wondering if he should bring it since there would be kids there and what was the legal drinking age in Britain? It wasn't as if he'd ever paid attention to the law when it came to alcohol.

Glancing over to her boss who was once again fiddling with his phone, Pepper had to admit that she was curious. After being told on the plane that the kid was a result of more than just a 'good time' it hadn't crossed her mind that he would come in person. If anything she would have assumed he'd have not personally gotten involved by just having the doctors get the swab and test it against his own DNA then make some sort of arrangement with the family seeing as the kid had seemed happy in the picture. Tony's remark of, "Pictures can lie, Ms. Potts," had her very curious. Tony would know about that since he'd grown up in front of the constant attention from the media and had learned to put on a smile whenever he saw a camera.

"We might have to take the kid with us just to get him away from the Stepford," Tony muttered as his eyes took in the neighborhood. He shuddered at the conformity of it all.

"Tony," Pepper warned and ignored his whine of, "What? If factory children come out bouncing balls in synchronicity we're leaving."

Barely hearing the exasperated sigh he got from his assistant, Tony knew about home associations and wondered if Britain had the same rules. In America when one bought a house in such a place they were subject to the rules of the association which meant they had to cut their yards to a certain height and so often, how many trees were in the yard, etc. That was why he didn't belong to one and had built his mansion where he wanted after buying the acreage.

"That one," Pepper interrupted his nervous thought and many sarcastic quips he could deliver. "Number four."

The driver pulled over and the two got out, Pepper holding the bottle of wine as Tony nervously smoothed out his blazer and stuffed his phone in his pocket. The woman didn't catch his mutter but she gave him a look that clearly told him to behave. He rolled his eyes and gave a strained smile while biting back his urge to snarkily call her mother. Ringing the doorbell, any doubt that they might have been mistaken about it being the wrong Dursleys vanished when the blond woman answered the door. Before Pepper could utter a word, Tony had already said the woman's name in greeting. "Petunia."

"Stark," came the stiff reply before her eyes traveled to Pepper and the assistant couldn't guess at the brief flash that went across the woman's face before she opened the door and had them enter her home. Pepper offered the bottle of wine which the blond took and went to the kitchen saying she'd get the tea and to please sit.

While Pepper had done that and looking subtly around the room, Tony was more obvious about it. It was kept neat and clean but not overtly so that you would think that no one lived there or that they employed a maid. There were a few generic paintings on the wall but what held their attention were the photographs. There were a couple professional family ones of the Dursleys with both boys dressed nicely and smiling at the camera but you could tell it was the type of smile one game when asked to by a photographer. There were current school pictures in frames along with a scattering of candid ones of various ages.

There was the sound of a thud and childish yells which had both Pepper and Tony looking towards the kitchen that Petunia had disappeared into. Shortly afterwards there was raised voices of children before a command to go wash up that was clearly Petunia's. The woman in question came in bearing a tea tray and an awkward expression. "Boys will be boys," she stated and set the tea tray on the coffee table. "They'll be down shortly."

Taking their seats, Tony was coiled in nerves that he hid as he took a tea cup that was poured for him. Taking the opportunity that was presented with the absence of little ears, he got straight to the point. "Why now?"

Pepper winced and gave the other woman an apologetic look for her rude boss, but it seemed that the blond woman either expected it because she knew of Tony's personality or just expected the question period. Setting her own cup of tea down, Petunia stated simply, "You had a right to know he existed."

"And you couldn't have dropped a line, say, I don't know, when Lily _died_."

Pink suffused Petunia's cheeks as her eyes hardened. "Would you have come? Would you have taken care of a traumatized toddler? We did what we could and thought right. We sent you a letter a year ago when the boy started school. There was no word from you making it clear you wanted nothing to do with him. I don't know why I sent you the update."

"What letter?" There had been a letter? He turned to Pepper who shook her head just as baffled as he was. Petunia gazed at them suspiciously while Tony's mind whirred. A whole year he should have known about his kid but hadn't due to some clerical error? To answer the blond's accusations he didn't know how he would have acted.

"Traumatized?" Pepper spoke up. Tony told her he'd had doubts about the fire that supposedly killed the boy's family.

"We, Vernon and I, believe he was in the room when his mother was killed," came the quiet answer. She was staring at her hands clasped around her tea cup, ears on alert for the children she missed the widened eyes of her audience and the tight expressions of horror. "What with how he would strongly react whenever we tried to enter the nursery."

Tony frowned. "The death certificate said fire."

Before Petunia could reply, the sounds of small rushing feet could be heard and Petunia sighed as she reprimanded, "No running!"

"Yes, mom." Came at the same time as, "Yes, Aunt 'Tunia"

All three adults stood up as the boys entered the room two of which had to school their expressions when they caught sight of the brunette child.

* * *

Edward was practicing dribbling his ball across the backyard while Dudley sat on the back stoop playing with some of his toys when they were called into the house. Well, they were called into the house after Edward accidentally sent some of his cousins toys flying with a stray kick of his ball. The ball also had hit the siding of the house very loudly and he'd winced when his aunt came out and scolded him. Dudley had been about to launch himself at the younger boy before his mother had come out and told them their guest had arrived. Both boys were instructed to go upstairs and wash all the while Edward tried to tell his cousin it was an accident. They hurriedly washed their hands and face and changed out of their play clothes before slowly walking towards the stairs. Dudley had poked Edward when he stopped. "Whats matter?"

The younger bit his lip, hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, shoulders hunched. "My tummy hurts."

He'd been stressed and anxious all day thinking about his dad. That's who was downstairs and what if he didn't want him? What if he didn't like him? "What if he's like Aunt Marge?" Despite being told he didn't have to call her that, habit was hard to break.

Dudley caused him to giggle with his serious reply of, "I'll kick him."

Grabbing his hand, Dudley had them running towards the stairs before they were told not to and they gave their typical replies as they walked the rest of the way down the stairs. Both boys looked at the strangers as they entered. Edward ducked his head a bit at being stared at and nearly flushed with embarrassment when Dudley after returning the gazes blurted out, "Are you mean?"

"Beg your pardon?" Was the first thing out of the man's mouth and Dudley counted it a success that his attention had left his cousin.

"Are you mean?" he asked again as if he didn't hear his mother's utterance of his name in that scolding tone of hers. Nor did he listen to his cousin's annoyed hissing of his name. "If you are, I'll kick you."

"Uh...Thanks for the warning?" Came the confused reply.

Petunia couldn't see how this could get any worse yet while she was both mortified and proud of her son's behavior she was also very amused at his 'threat'. She was sure that the other two adults were also slightly amused but made sure not to show it. The red head tried to reassure the boys by saying, "Don't worry, he's only mean to adults."

"Only when they deserve it," Tony pouted.

"Dudley, Ned, this is Mr. Stark and his assistant Ms. Potts." Petunia tried to salvage the first impressions. She already knew that there would be questions after the boys went up to bed and was grateful she'd have her husband with her when that happened. At the moment she wished he'd not forgotten to pick up the cake from Tesco on his way home.

"Tony, please," the man insisted. He squatted in front of Edward who was watching him warily but the man had a friendly enough expression. He sort of reminded him of Justin's dad. "So, which do you prefer? Edward, Eddie, Ned? Please tell me you don't go by Ward."

He'd shrugged at first but at the last he smiled and shook his head. The Dursley's called him Ned and most did, but there were some adults and kids that used his full name.

"Well, its nice to meet you, Eddie. You don't mind me calling you that do you?"

Shaking his head he returned the sentiment, eyes roving the man's face before he stated, "Your beard's funny."

"Oh yeah?"

Edward nodded. He'd never seen someone with a beard like that. He reached out to touch it but quickly retracted his hand when the front door opened and his uncle's voice called out to his aunt about the long wait at the bakery causing Tony to strand up. The men looked at one another, Vernon greeting, "Ah, you're here."

Petunia took the box from her husband and excused herself to the kitchen to oversee the last of the dinner preparations. Tony introduced Pepper who had been half watching her bosses interaction with the boy, as well as listening to the blond child who wanted to know what she did. She greeted Mr. Dursley who greeted her then went to the chair his wife had been sitting in as both Tony and Pepper retook their seats on the sofa. Dudley went and sat in the other chair sharing it with his cousin. After a brief bit of awkwardness and stilted conversation between the adults, the children's natural inquisitiveness overrode any shyness.

Suddenly the boys were bombarding the two adults with questions from if they liked soccer to how come Pepper was ginger. Then it was dinner time which the boys enjoyed since they got to have the sweet apple sauce on their pork and they were really looking forward to the dessert. Dudley chose that moment to ask his dad about getting fish. "Do they sell fish at the aquarium?"

"What?"

"Fish. Do they sell them? They have extras right?"

"I don't think that's how it works," Tony told the kid with amusement.

"Can we ask tomorrow?" Dudley wondered.

"Tomorrow?"

The blond nodded at their male guest. "We're goin' to the aquarium tomorrow."

"You're coming, right?" Edward spoke up looking at the man hopefully. That was what Uncle Vernon said. That Tony was going with them tomorrow so that way he didn't have to wait until they were done. The aquarium might take a long time!

"Don't worry," Pepper smiled at the boy. "Tony is all yours tomorrow."

Giving a shy smile back, Edward turned his eyes back to plate reassured a bit, even if he kept glancing towards the aforementioned man every so often. When they were finished eating, Pepper helped with the clean up while Vernon went to help Dudley with his reading and Tony was being shown Edward's room. The boy led him around the small room by the hand, pointing at different things as he explained about them before he sat on his bed and watched with nervous anticipation. Tony obediently and attentively listened to what he said and went where the boy led, eyes taking in everything to see what made the kid tick. From the dragon backpack and soccer cleats hanging hanging from the desk chair, to the Lion King bedding and teal colored comforter.

There was a globe nightlight on the bedside table that when turned on would cast the night sky about the room. Along with the light, a book on the solar system with a bookmark lay on the nigtstand. Many books in the bookshelf for his age group up to a couple years older. Atop it was a plastic lightsaber because Jedi and Star Wars was awesome! There were even a transformer that was there 'guarding' the red teddy bear with winged gold balls in the design. The bear had once been the pajamas he'd been wearing when he was left with his relatives. A few tubs of K'nex and legos. A poster of a steam locomotive was on the wall. The shelf above the desk held a metal model train, a plush dragon, and a framed photograph of an infant Edward with his mother, both grinning at the camera.

Tony had lingered at the desk and Edward saw his hand twitch like he wanted to pick something up like his own did but the man kept his hand to his side. Instead, he'd turned to him and said, "Space, trains, and soccer huh?"

Edward shrugged. "What do you like?"

"Cars, robots. And building things."

"I like building things!"

Glancing at the tubs of K'nex and Legos Tony had grinned with amusement. "I can see that. What do you usually build?"

The two ended up with a pile of the building toys beside each other as the constructed whatever came to mind. Edward used the K'nex to build a space shuttle while Tony used them to put together a car. They soon had a garage, a shuttle launchpad, and were working on a skyscraper when Vernon had popped in to tell his nephew that it was time for him to get ready for bed. Naturally, the boy pouted and dragged his heels until Tony reminded him that they would see each other again tomorrow. Edward didn't let the man go until he promised.

* * *

Following Vernon back down the stairs, Tony wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment. He'd been anxious when they'd arrived and it hadn't calmed down any when he'd gotten his first good look at the kid in person. In person the there was a stronger resemblance. When he'd seen the greenish yellow healing bruise he was sure that most people's thought process went immediately to abuse, but he hadn't picked up that vibe from either Petunia or Vernon when he'd met them at their wedding. Nor had it seemed to change when he'd met the woman again. He'd assumed the kid had been smacked in the face with a soccer ball or had gotten it there since the kid seemed to love the sport.

But then the blond kid had asked him if he was mean which sent warning bells off in his head that someone had purposely caused that injury. He had to hand it to the kid though for threatening to kick him if he was mean. It seemed Edward was on the shy side or just quiet until he knew someone. He seemed to open up when they were in his room. That hopeful gaze he sent him though at the dinner table really hit him. He was glad that Pepper saved him on that which he made a mental note to ask her about that. He'd not recalled her mentioning anything about any aquarium or outing being on the agenda for tomorrow.

Pepper was seated at the dining table with Petunia when the men joined them. Soon all four adults had a glass of the wine Tony had brought. It was surprisingly Petunia that restarted their conversation from earlier by asking questions.

"How much did Lily tell you about herself?"

"Enough," he stated not wanting to rip at that particular badly healed wound. She'd told him enough that he'd actually trusted her and allowed himself to become deeply attached to her. So much so that he'd been thinking about how she fit into his life. At the time he'd thought he'd known the important bits and would have time to find out everything he didn't know; that she would entrust her secrets to him bit by bit. "Yet it seems she didn't tell me what I truly needed to know."

Petunia seemed to debate about something before she nodded. "Do you recall the terrorist attacks going on during on?"

Pepper gasped as Tony's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying she was killed by a terrorist?" In every paper he'd searched there hadn't been any such accusations around the time of the woman's death. In fact, the only reason he'd been able to locate the paperwork about her husband's house was because he'd had J.A.R.V.I.S search for the name Lily Potter and she was listed as the beneficiary of the deed. Yet for all that was worth, neither he nor J.A.R.V.I.S could track the firm past Wales. That would be another tally for the Lily was a spy theory and the woman's next words seemed to add to it.

"She and her husband were being targeted by the terrorist's leader."

Tony listened to the woman explain that Lily had got caught up in this silent war just before she got involved with James Potter. How they'd gone into hiding but had been sold out and were killed because of it. That somehow the leader had been caught in the backlash of whatever he'd done to the house and left Edward without his parents. Tony winced at that but frowned when told that the boy had been left with them and how the Dursleys had coped with the sudden addition to their family. The boy's interest in soccer and how he was doing in school. How they'd decided it was time to finally tell Tony about Edward.

"I didn't receive that letter," Tony informed them once again. Pulling out his phone and finding the correct picture he handed it over saying, "That was the first and only picture I received."

"Well, we sent you one back in October." Petunia got up an fetched a picture from a drawer and handed it over. "That was the one we sent along with a letter."

While Pepper took the picture before handing it to Tony, he glanced at it as he listened to the woman summarize the letter. Essentially they'd wanted to inform him he had a son and they would provide proof if he needed it, but didn't want any compensation for taking care of him all these years. That he was being well looked after and they would continue to do so. If he was so inclined to be a part of the boy's life or not let them know so they would know what to say to their nephew.

"And as you never got a reply you thought that in itself was the answer," he concluded. Staring at them, he turned his gaze to Vernon. "What happened to his face?"

There was a flush of embarrassment and anger before it was controlled by Petunia's hand on her husband's. "My sister, Marge. She's been handled." He didn't have to say that there would not be a repeat occurrence. After a measured stare, Tony nodded.

"What do you plan to do?" Came the question that had been plaguing both Dursleys since Pepper had called them. They wanted to know what his intentions toward their nephew was. Swallowing, Tony honestly admitted, "I don't know."

He'd like to be in his kid's life but he had doubts about what kind of father he would be. He thought he could do better than his own father, but he could probably do a lot worse without meaning to. While Tony's childhood had been less than ideal having no privacy and having to embrace that, he'd never seen his parents murdered in front of him either. Nor had he ever been struck by a family member. First, he'd have to get confirmation even though by this point it would likely just be superfluous to get the cheek swab. As he'd not gotten it tonight, he likely would be able to tomorrow.

Tony and Pepper ended up thanking the Dursleys and Pepper was asking about the Dursleys schedule while Tony called for their car to pick them up. They left the house with many things left unresolved but a tentative understanding.

"Well, that went well. Didn't it?" Tony asked just to be sure, once they were back in the car heading towards their hotel.

"Yes," Pepper replied with a smile. "You did good, Tony."

Having her affirm that some of the tension he'd been carrying around relaxed and disappeared. First impressions had gone rather well. It seemed his kid was being well taken care of and his appreciation for the Dursleys rose another notch. Then as if recalling the conversation from earlier, he asked, "Run that aquarium thing by me again?"

* * *

**AN – **Sorry once again for the lateness of the chapter! I've been sick and not really feeling like logging on or even typing up anything. There is also the fact that I have so many different ways I wrote this chapter up originally and wasn't sure which way to go until I got to the point where I said I was posting it and not delaying it any longer. I have no idea where Godric's Hollow was supposed to be. Its been awhile since I've read The Deathly Hallows. But eh, this is fanfic so its now in Wales.

And I'm sure I'll be having to up the rating to T soon...On a different note, I just saw Coco for the first time a few days ago and really enjoyed it. I can't believe I hadn't seen it earlier! As always, thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed ^_^


	8. Chapter 7

**IMPORTANT! Maybe? – **I put a poll up on my profile. I want to know if you think I should have the events of Iron Man play out in 2008 like its was originally planned in the MCU or if I should use their altered timeline and have it happen in 2010. I have it planned out either way, but was curious what you all thought.

**A.N.** – I know that all aquariums are not equal and I have no idea what the London aquarium was like in 2003. All I have is pictures and youtube videos to work with so sorry if I gloss over it and its fanfiction so yeah.

\- So, this might possibly be my last update until July. There is a lot of stuff going on in June like my brother's wedding and I don't think I'll have time to update. As always, thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed ^_^

* * *

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

**Chapter Rating:** K+

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Seven ( Tuesday July 1st)**

There was no sleep for Tony that night, or at least not very much. There had been too much that had not been spoken about but for once he knew that he couldn't push just yet. For the moment the Dursleys had the upper hand. Tony was working on rectifying that. He didn't like letting someone else hold all the cards preferring to either level the playing field or tipping the odds into his favor. While Tony still wasn't sure what he was going to do about the boy or what kind of father he was going to be, he knew that he didn't want to be a long distance one. It would have been only a step up from having the kid sent to boarding school as his own father had done to him. J.A.R.V.I.S was running several different searches for him to enlighten him to all options available to him.

"Compilation completed," J.A.R.V.I.S's voice interrupted the man's musing. The a.i. had been running since Tony and Pepper had entered the hotel when he had given it parameters to search for when digging up information. His mind had been going over that he had been told and _not_ told. Petunia hadn't been very subtle that there were gaps and such missing from her story. Just to see if what she had told him _was _true and to find out everything else he could, he'd had his a.i. looking into the matter.

"Let's see it."

Soon, he was looking through electronic pages of information gathered by J.A.R.V.I.S on his tablet that had him itching for his complete system at home. Even with all his tinkering there was only so much space available on the electronic device. As it was, there was quite a bit of interesting and relevant (for Tony,) information. Looking through the data he was caught up in the mystery wanting to solve it. It seemed that his hunch was correct about more than just Lily having been drafted when she was eleven. There were others whose records disappeared after age eleven never to resurface while others upon becoming a legal adult emerged from wherever they had vanished. Sometimes it ran in families while others appeared to be random. There wasn't any discernible pattern that he could see at the moment.

"Child soldiers?" He wondered with a furrowed brow. It wasn't an unheard of concept from history and while countries would deny it, some still embraced the practice but kept it hidden from the masses. The question was, which were the ones that washed out of the program? Those that disappeared or those that now looked to have civilian lives? Sleeper agents perhaps? From what he could understand and theorize with what little he'd been able to learn last night Lily had been recruited to fight some sort of cult. A cult whose leader had targeted Lily's husband and by extension, her.

On the couch with the pad in hand was how Pepper found him and had to call his name a few times along with, "We'll be late," in order to get his full attention rather than a distracted, "Hmm?"

Seeing her boss blink up at her, she sighed and gave him a mug of coffee. He gave a smile of appreciation as he downed the dark beverage. A quick shower and change of clothes later they were in the car heading for the aquarium. Pepper let him know it would take them about two hours for them to get through the aquarium.

"Is that calculating an adult or a preschooler?" Tony wanted to know. At that, his ginger assistant seemed stumped not happy with the fact that she was. She had looked the information up knowing he'd want to know how long he'd have to be stuck looking at fish. He cracked a smirk at her expression while he hoped that it wouldn't take as long as he thought it might and didn't want to factor in cranky hungry ankle biters into the mix.

Not knowing how to act around young children, Tony wasn't sure what exactly was expected of him. Last night he hadn't really had to do anything but build things with legos so not much interacting there. Today would be different. He'd be exposed to the kid all day and vice versa. The last time he'd been around kids that age had been when _he'd_ been that age.

In answer either to his question or from reading what he was thinking, Tony appreciated when the woman spoke up stating, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

* * *

Edward was really excited for this trip, his giddiness showing with the way he kept bouncing on the balls of his feet and his megawatt grin. Both he and Dudley loved when they got to use the underground with either of the Durlseys. It was an adventure and they got to see more than their small trips to and from school or the grocers. Today was extra special though and so it was hard to sit still.

Dudley was excited about the sharks while Edward wanted to see _everything_! If pushed if he had a favorite he had to say he liked the octopus. When he told his cousin that an octopus could kill one of his beloved sharks, Dudley got upset which resulted in an argument which _almost _turned into a shoving match before Petunia put a stop to it by digging her nails into their ears. She threatened to take a cab home and forget the whole thing, causing Edward to panic both boys knew that she would do it too. Despite having to put aside money for them to come because it had been something both boys had wanted to do for months.

They had sulked for a bit but Edward's dampened excitement sparked back to life when he saw Tony and Pepper. Waving and grinning, he was nearly bouncing again on the step. He knew that both Uncle Vernon and Ms. Pepper had said that Tony would be here and Tony had promised, but he hadn't really believed until he saw them heading in their direction.

"Tony! Ms. Pepper!" He called out excitedly. His stomach was all squirmy like it had been yesterday but now he could relate it to how he felt when he'd first started kindergarten and again before his team had a game. He was nervous and excited and happy. Ms. Pepper smiled and he felt himself returning the smile with a beaming one of his own.

They small group entered the building starting down the path the boys' head turning to take in the murals as they walked. Soon enough they were starting the exhibition and Tony found a small being latched onto his leg. Edward was looking down at the glass at their feet that they could see through where the sharks and fish were swimming. Dudley had made an excited noise and had wanted to lay down to see into the tank whereas his cousin wanted to move away from it. All the boy could think of was what if it broke? Dudley was a bit put out that his mom was keeping him from _really_ looking and ushered them past the walkway. Edward while breathing a bit easier absently kept a grip on his adult safety line. Petunia had a firm hold on Dudley so he wouldn't run off or get lost in the crowd.

The tight hold on Tony's pants gradually lessened but never let go as they explored the area with Pepper hiding a smile at not only the sight of her boss whom was trying to keep a straight face and not groan learning there were _fourteen_ zones. This would be a practice in patience and trying to keep the boredom out of his expression and tone. The one thing he could find going for this place was that the lightening was a bit dimmer than he expected it to be. The shrieking children? Not so much. Thankfully the two ankle biters he was stuck with weren't screaming at ear piercing decibels.

The children liked the warped glass so they could see the fish magnified at the beginning of the trip. They also liked when they were able to stick their hands in the water and touch the starfish and anemones. There was the typical giggles at the squish and gross factor on some of them. Thankfully Edward had let go of Tony before he went and stuck his hand in sea water and hadn't reattached himself to the man. Petunia had the boys stop at the stations meant for the children to make keepsake art pieces which she then put in her over sized purse which held the brochure they'd been given at the admissions desk.

There were so many kinds of fish that neither boy had ever seen before or even Pepper for that matter. She was actually peering in the tanks too and pointing things out for the boys if they happened to miss something. When they had gotten to the octopus tank Edward was in his element. He watched fascinated as it moved about and chatted with Pepper telling her everything he knew about the creatures. She listened with an amused smile as he stumbled over his words as they came out quite quickly in his excitement.

The jellyfish had been a bit hypnotizing and the boys were whispering back and forth as they pointed at different ones and giggled. They loved how the different lights made the jellyfish looked even more pretty and alien.

Dudley enjoyed looking into the huge many storied shark tank. A hammer head shark had swam past them and the blond tugged at his mother's shirt asking, "Did you see that!"

"Is that supposed to be a whale or a dinosaur?" Tony asked tilting his head as he looked at the fake bones in the tank interested despite himself.

Edward enjoyed the stingrays and had even startled away from the glass in surprise when one swam straight up it in front of him. He'd bumped into Pepper's legs who'd been behind him looking as well. Giving a sheepish smile, the boy went back to peering in the glass then giggled as another stingray went by. "Lookit the face!"

To him, it looked like they were either smiling or frowning and it was funny to look at the undersides. Glancing up at the redhead, he babbled about how he learned that they were related to sharks. Dudley hadn't believed him so they naturally had to find an employee but Tony had already looked the information up on his phone and had been surprised his kid was right. Dudley had just grunted like his father and had gone back to marveling at the tanks and trying to find the biggest shark he could. Petunia spotted a turtle to point out to her nephew who smiled in thanks as he pressed as close as he dared trying to see.

When they went through the glass tunnel where the sea surrounded them, Tony once again found Edward attached to him. This time at least it was just his hand as he pressed close even as his wide eyed gaze was darting around with his mouth hanging open in a bit of mixed fright and awe. They were once again faced with the large shark tank with larger sharks in them.

"Why they got rock faces?"

"Hmm?"

Edward pointed at the large stone face in the tank. When told it was a replica of the stone faces of Easter Island, the boys furrowed his brows in confusion. He didn't ask what a replica was even though he had no idea what that meant. Something more interesting caught his attention. "Like Father Christmas?"

"What?" Tony had no idea where that came from.

"Santa. He gots Lapland. Do the Easter bunnies have an island?" That made sense in the boy's mind. The only other thing he could reason why it was called Easter Island was that it was Easter all the time there. Maybe it was? Lapland had to be kind of Christmasy all year since that was where Santa lived.

"Uh, sure." Tony dredged up half vague memories to recall the culture differences between the United States and Europe. "Just like him. The bunnies live on Easter Island."

Nodding, Edward didn't see the man's mouth twitch in amusement as they moved on to the next tank. The boys amused themselves and annoyed Petunia by trying to make fish faces every so often. Then they were in the rain forest section and the younger boy was pointing at the turtles. He liked them as did his aunt. Dudley was disappointed that the piranha weren't like in movies and shows. Edward however was interested to learn that some of the piranha actually ate fruit and nuts. Fish were weird!

Dudley had exclaimed happily and pointed with enthusiasm at the crocodile or alligator that he could see. "Mummy!"

What outing wouldn't be complete without a souvenir? The artwork they made didn't count in the boys' opinions. Pepper had volunteered to buy them something as a late birthday gift for Dudley and well, you couldn't just leave one kid out could you? It stopped Tony spoiling the kids as Petunia had stated that they only get _one _item only. Edward being the picky person he was took longer to decide on his present then Dudley who opted for a hooded sweatshirt. The shirt's hood was rimmed to look like a shark's mouth. Finally Edward decided on an octopus plus that was nearly as tall big as he was. Petunia already knew it would be living on the boy's bed.

When Edward had to pee, Petunia looked as if Tony had stated he was going to kidnap the kid when he stated he'd take him. He'd noticed how she had kept an eagle eye on them throughout the whole tour as if she'd expected them to run. Mentally he had snorted at that since he would get his kid back legally not by stooping to sneaking the kid away.

Tony had grumbled to Pepper when they'd had to walk from the parking lot to the aquarium and almost did so again when it was _finally_ time to leave the place. This time they were accompanied by the small family. They were being treated out to lunch and Tony's only stipulation was no fish which made the boys giggle and their accompanied adult frown while Pepper was split between amusement and annoyance. Tony happily treated them to Sticky Fingers the only restaurant he actually knew and was relieved to see still stood. It let the kids experience an American menu and had Petunia frowning. She didn't particularly care for the menu and resigned herself to messy children and was thankful she had brought a spare pair of clothing for both boys. There were also wet wipes that would see plenty of use.

Both boys found enjoyment when Pepper forced Tony to get his cheek swabbed firs to show Edward what they wanted. The boy had made a face and quickly drank some of his water afterwards. Pepper had put the vials in her purse to send to take to the labs later. When Petunia asked him how he'd even known about the restaurant, his reply of, "Lily," had caused a silence. At the mention of his mother's name, Edward had looked up. "My mum?"

"Yup. Thought a bit of home would do me good." Tony's head tilted slightly as he recalled, "That was our _third _date?"

Tales about the kid's mother helped pass time until their food arrived. Then it was eating and jokes until the boys had to be helped clean up.

* * *

The subject the adults hadn't broached while they'd been in the company of the two children, was in the forefront of all of their minds. It wasn't until after Tony had once again descended the stairs after putting his kid to bed (the reality of which still hadn't quite sunk in yet) that anyone dared to broach it. Vernon had come home not long after they had actually. After a recount of the day it was surprisingly Petunia who inquired once again what the man's intentions were towards her nephew. She wanted to know if he was going to be taking him away from the only home he could really recall. While not anything near a professional in the minds of children, she did remember what it was like to suddenly not have her sister around anymore. While Dudley would still have his parents to help him with the adjustment, Ned would be with strangers in a strange environment. Not to mention, they still didn't know what kind of parent Tony Stark would be. Showing up and buying the boys a couple of presents and spending a bit of time with him didn't a father make. The man hadn't been around to see Ned have a tantrum or test boundaries. In a sense, he was behaving himself while the man and his assistant were around.

The subject was something he was sure that Pepper had tried to talk to him about before when she'd said that the kid looked happy in the picture he'd been sent. Tony had wanted to verify it for himself that it was true and it appeared that it was. While he knew that the best thing would likely to leave the kid where he was, that would be the _safe_ thing to do. That would be Pepper's argument he was sure, yet the thought of leaving the kid here just seemed inherently wrong. He'd already missed out on five years of the kid's life. Some of it he was rather glad to what with the teething, diaper changing, and sleepless nights.

"Well, I plan on getting my name placed on his birth certificate where it belongs," Tony replied sitting back on the chair crossing his legs. J.A.R.V.I.S had already been at work on that. He wasn't worried about getting slammed with child support since he hadn't been already plus he'd already planned on setting up an account for the Dursley kid as a thanks for taking care of his. "And getting the kid a passport. That should take like, what, a week?"

In reality he knew it would take closer to about six to eight weeks unless one wanted to fork over more money to expedite the process. He was quite sure that neither of the Dursleys knew this and if they did, knew from his reputation that he wouldn't blink or think twice at tossing some money around to get his way. They didn't have the money or resources as Tony did for a custody battle that they would lose. It wasn't as if it would be hard for him to get Edward into the United States as the kid had an American parent. Even if the biological parent aspect didn't get the courts to rule in his favor the fact that he had more than enough money and space for the kid would have.

"You'll not be taking him away from us." Vernon stated with narrowed eyes and cheeks reddening missing how the other man's eyes went hard at that. No one told him what he could and couldn't do let alone keep something of his away from him. "Watch me."

"You don't have any -"

"I have _every_ right."

A nasty smile crossed the older man's face as he asked, "Why don't we let the boy choose?"

At that, Tony's eyes narrowed further. He was _not_ going to put that on his kid. To force someone to _choose_ between their family members? That was a no brainer to cause anger and resentment later along with a lot of unresolved issues. There was a reason that you had to be twelve before your input was considered in custody battles. Before the two men could start arguing and threats to be made, Pepper stepped in. "What about a compromise?"

There was a look of betrayal that flashed across Tony's face before he schooled it to neutrality. He would give the woman the benefit of the doubt rather than immediately fire her and look for a replacement. Good help was so hard to find after all. So he listened as she outlined the plan for the Dursleys and Edward to come to Malibu for the last month of summer. That way they could all get used to each other and then when it was over they could broach the subject again _with_ Edward to come to some kind of more permanent solution.

"I don't see why we have to pussyfoot around this," was his irritated response. "The kid's in danger here right? You said something of the effect last night. Lily was specifically targeted as was her husband. If either of these cults or organizations come calling, he won't be where they expect."

"They'll find him," came the soft voice of Petunia who had actually been considering the man's deal. She had seen the flaw he didn't because she hadn't told him what he needed to know. She'd kept quiet because she hadn't known how to bring it up nor how the man would react. Petunia herself had acted very negatively when told about her sister having magic and knew there were others that were adverse to her nephew's ability. To have the boy out of the expected path would have been the safest thing for him, but the old wizard had even stated to Vernon that he would be back in six years for the boy. It wouldn't matter where Ned was if they were so determined. Stark was also a futurist would he be able to accept there was something such as magic that existed?

"Perhaps, but it'll take them years -"

"They'll know if he doesn't come back at the end of August."

"The blasted cat woman," Vernon spat. Petunia had told him about the woman being at the post office then not a day or so later and they had that old wizard knocking on their door.

"What?" They knew there was a spy living in their neighborhood?

The Dursleys exchanged looks before Vernon went to get them all something stronger than tea. When he returned and poured them all drinks, Petunia sighed and stated, "We might have omitted a few things."

Tony's head was reeling by the end of the explanation which he was skeptical about. A society that had segregated themselves away and kept to archaic rules and traditions. Gave him the unedited story as she knew it about the whole magical affair and why Lily had been targeted. Then there was something about how the wizards had already decided that the kid was going to their school. About how Lily had been approached and that the headmaster had already been to see Edward and would be seeing him again when it was his time to attend the school.

"I never agreed to that."

"They won't care. There's something you should see." Getting up, Petunia motioned for them to stay there as she went and retrieved Lily's letters. Maybe he would believe the words of a dead woman if he couldn't believe hers. Back in the living room she handed the box that contained the letters over to the man. "They're letters. Take them, read them, but please, return them. There isn't much left of her except for Ned and he's a right to those."

Taking the box, Tony stood and decided it was best that he leave to think about the unbelievable story he was told. He didn't believe in magic. These people might have deluded themselves into thinking that was what they wielded and they were wizards, but magic was just science that hadn't been proven yet. He'd scan the letters and have J.A.R.V.I.S comb through them and authenticate the writing.


	9. Chapter 8

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Eight (Wednesday July 2nd )**

Dudley was watching a pokemon movie that he had gotten for his birthday (again) so sighing, Edward got up and went outside to practice his soccer. The boys didn't know it but Dennis' father had connections to a bootlegger which was the reason why he and in extension Dudley were able to have those movies. Edward liked a couple of the creatures but for the most part he didn't like the cartoon and wold have preferred to have watched Thomas since they _actually_ talked! He was sure that his cousin liked the battles and seemed to love to see Team Rocket 'blasting off again'.

As he was going through the kitchen to the backyard he saw his aunt was in the middle of making steak and kidney pie for their meal later. It was one of Edward's favorite's and he thought his aunt made the best ones! Neither Justin or Malcolm's mothers made the pies as good as his aunt! When he'd told her that, it had made his aunt really happy which made him happy. Seeing him with his ball, his aunt wondered, "What's wrong, Ned?"

"Dudley's watchin' his movie again," was all he needed to say for her to have an understanding expression and told him to be careful of the greenhouse. That was where she grew her herbs and the cuttings for her flowers during the winter. The boy nodded. "Gonna practice dribbling."

"The cone's are in the shed," she told him. "Don't forget to practice juggling!"

"Thanks, Aunt 'Tunia." Edward knew that he needed to practice dropping the ball onto his foot and kicking it up to catch it so he could progress to where he can kick it in the air and allow it to drop and kick it up with the other foot. The cones and practice net for him to kick the ball at were kept in the shed along with a ball pump and a few extra soccer balls. When it was time for him to practice being a goalie, they used the cones at the park just in case of a stray ball.

After a bit, his aunt came out to see him dribbling with the laces and outer edges of his feet. He would use the right foot going one way then he'd swap to the other foot going the other. His couch hadn't wanted them to form any bad habits so had told his aunt and uncle to watch him and to remind him not to use his inner foot when he was at home. Mostly that job was left to Vernon as he was the one most often to play with Edward when he was practicing and even just to have fun.

Wiping her hands on her dishtowel, Petunia called, "Time to come clean up, Ned."

Nodding, he stopped the ball by placing his foot atop it, and biting his lip, he wondered if he should ask his aunt what he'd been wondering. As he gathered the cones, he wondered if his father would be back again anytime soon. He'd had fun with him when he came over the last two times. He wanted to know how long he would be here because he knew that business trips lasted only a short time. Uncle Vernon went on business trips sometimes and had to stay away for a night or two, but he didn't go to another country!

By the time he'd finished putting away his equipment, his aunt was back inside sitting at the table with the family calendar. It had Dudley's swim practices and meets, Edward's soccer training and matches, Petunia's schedule for her sewing group as well as the odd jobs she had. Vernon's trips when he had them were penned in along with their annual vacation. Before he could sit down, his aunt directed him to the washroom to clean up. When he came back he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt as he watched her and knowing her nephew, she soon asked him what was on his mind.

"D-do, you think, they'll be back?" 'Them' of course being Tony and Ms. Pepper. Tony had _said_ that he would be back but he hadn't _promised_ like he had last time. He didn't like fish so maybe he hadn't liked that they went to an aquarium? His stomach was starting to hurt.

Petunia sighed and putting down the calendar and pen, she placed her hands atop her nephew's which were still worrying the hem of his shirt. He stopped and let go as she gently pulled his hands away and pulled him close to maneuver him up onto her lap. The boy didn't look up at all as his aunt hugged him. "I'm sure he'll be back. You'll see."

She didn't tell him that Stark would be back to at least give back the letters and the box. Or at she hoped that he would. She felt Ned nod against her and his mumbled, "He _said_ he would..." He just hadn't said _when_. Tony had said _soon_ and that could mean different than Edward's or even the Dursleys soon.

* * *

There was no such thing as magic. Illusions, sleight of hand, misdirection, all those were real and true. There was a science and an art to it; _that_ Tony could acknowledge. It was still parlour tricks and fakery much like how 'psychics' used observation of body language and facial cues to navigate their sessions to spout their nonsense. It was complete garbage. Yet the Dursleys believed in this; stated that the two opposing cults believed and lived this as well. For some reason, Lily had been caught up in this strangeness and had been brainwashed. The only thing that could pass close to actual magic as people believed in it was perhaps psionics.

What were the odds that this was the 'magic' that the Dursleys had told him about? It still smelled of a training program to raise up child soldiers. Somehow they were able to track and know which children had abilities or decided to give them to the kids themselves. Skimming the letters, certain things made themselves known. It seemed these 'Purebloods' or such were legacies. Child soldiers that had offspring whom had inherited their abilities and been trained in their footsteps. It would explain why there were no official paperwork on them as if they didn't exist.

J.A.R.V.I.S. scanned the letters for Tony and soon had them downloaded to the man's tablet as well as saved to his server at the man's home. The A.I. had gone through the letters summarizing them, flagging people of interest. On a whim, Tony had J.A.R.V.I.S do a world wide search for children whose records stopped at age eleven; what he found had the man frowning in thought. As far back as electronic records were kept in all places that had modern technology there was a pattern. Any child whose records stopped at eleven were never reported as missing. They just vanished. It was only the odd one every here and there that had their records start up once again at age eighteen with a seven year blank gap. It wasn't localized in Europe either.

While Tony was looking over the letters, Pepper was going through paperwork and on the phone making sure that the merger process was going smoothly. She knew that Obadiah would be seeing to everything in California. Later she would have to call Obi and have to go through their flight schedule since it was possibly their stay might be extended. Tony had planned on staying at least a week to check on the validity that the boy was his as well as trying to find Godric's Hollow and visiting it. In fact, as far as the woman knew, Wales was still on her boss' itinerary.

Later J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke up to let them know that the results from the paternity test was in. It was confirmed that Tony and Edward's DNA matched. Something that neither Pepper nor Tony were in that much doubt about after having seen the boy in the flesh. While he wasn't well versed on genetics Tony knew the basics and knew that every so often nature would throw a curve-ball such as switching the boy's green eyes from a recessive to a dominate gene. He was wondering if whatever recessive gene his mother had gotten would pass along as another dominate trait with this ability she seemed to have possessed and was killed for.

Jarvis interrupted his musing to inform him that Henry McCoy was returning his call. Thanking him, Tony answered his phone and had a long in depth conversation with the scientist. He figured that if anyone could tell him if what he was reading was possible would be an expert in not only genetics but biochemistry. Tony also appreciated the man's wit and sarcasm. It helped that the scientist didn't try and dumb things down and they could have an intelligent conversation.

There was a hum of thought on the other end of the line. "Sounds like something a colleague of mine would know more about then myself. I can inquire about your questions and get back to you?"

After agreeing to that and having J.A.R.V.I.S. put the call at the top of his list to inform him when McCoy called, he sat back with a thoughtful frown.

* * *

Hanging up the phone, Petunia was relieved that Gordon's parents would be taking Dudley next week and Ned would be going to Malcolm's. Vernon hadn't had to take both boys to work with him together save for once and it hadn't been on her birthday. The boys would go to their friends in the morning but return home in the evening after Vernon got through with the workday. Normally the boys would have stayed home with a babysitter but after the peanut butter incident, the woman didn't want to risk it. Not that she believed that the incident would be repeated, but it was better to be certain. If the boys stayed over at a friends they wouldn't likely get as bored and end up in some kind of mischief.

Surely Stark and his assistant would be gone by then? Even if he tried to fight them for custody it would take a bit and Ned wouldn't be taken straight away. Frowning, she wondered if he had finished with the letters yet. If he had decided to take his assistant's suggestion into consideration as he said he would. Her musing were interrupted by the boys arguing followed by a -THUMP- upstairs which resulted in their voices raising. Petunia was out of her chair and up the stairs in less then thirty seconds to stand rooted to the spot staring into Ned's room. "What is the meaning of this?!"

There were Lego all over the floor in chunks from whatever they had formed before unrecognizable which the boys had been wrestling around in. There were crayons and a skewed coloring book on the floor that had obviously been on Ned's desk before they had gotten into their argument and bumped the desk. Both boys upon hearing the woman's sharp tone of voice, quickly let go of the other and stood but kept their petulant angry expressions. Ned glared at his cousin speaking up first. "He broke my tower!"

"Not uh!" Dudley denied and before they could get into a 'Did too, did not' and start fighting again, Petunia asked her son why he was in Ned's room. She nearly sighed with exasperation when his reply was that he wanted to play with the Lego and that Ned hadn't been playing with them. "Did you _ask _him before you started to play with them?"

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"Yes," Dudley said at the same time Ned denied the claim. She held up a hand and told them, "Enough!" when they tried to start arguing again.

"Ned, did you tell him he could play with your Lego?"

"Not th' tower." His hands were fisted in his shirt with his anger at his cousin for destroying the half built tower. He'd hoped that maybe when Ms. Pepper and Tony came back they could finish it. Then Dudley went and ruined it!

Sighing, the woman wondered what she was going to do with the two of them. She decided on having them both clean up the toy blocks while she watched. Ned was upset and tears were in his eyes as he picked up the plastic pieces that had once been an unfinished skyscraper. He was slower then Dudley who wanted to get it finished hoping that was all the punishment they were going to get for fighting. Once he was done he looked at his mother expectantly while his cousin still sat on the floor with his head bowed down staring at the carpet.

"Dudley go to your room."

"What'd I do?" he whined. Ned had said he could play with his Lego, it wasn't fair!

"Dudley, now!"

While he stomped to his room, Petunia massaged her forehead. Ned stayed sitting on his feet, his shoulders shaking as he cried refusing to look up. She crossed over to sit on his bed having an inkling as to why her nephew was so upset. Trying to rear both boys to be tidy was a chore in and of itself a bit, but her nephew was more inclined to that persuasion than her son. Ned would usually put his toys away when he was done playing with them for the day. Which was why it was unusual for him to have Lego out for Dudley to tear apart thinking it was okay to play with.

"Ned?" She spoke quietly. "Can't you build another tower?"

Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"'Cause."

"Because why, Ned?" Even though the boys were five or just about to be in Ned's case, she and Vernon tried to get the boys to speak correctly as they could. Some things were a losing battle which they had learned to pick the battles they tried to fight with the boys. When they were upset like now, they didn't bother trying to correct their speech.

There was a mumbled response that she couldn't understand and told him so. He repeated quietly, "Tony built it with me."

It was as she had thought. "I see. Maybe he'll build another one with you." She offered despite her misgivings of offering the boy such hope. At her nephew's dubious frown, Petunia stood up and offered her hand. "Come on, up you get. You can help me make the trifle."

Wiping at his eyes again, the boy got up and followed his aunt down the stairs and into the kitchen. He didn't mind helping her when she made food. He got to nibble on the food sometimes when he was in the kitchen 'helping'. It was usually always fun. Soon enough he had forgotten about his distress and was smiling and laughing as he 'helped' add the layers to the trifle they'd be having after supper.

* * *

**AN – ** Belated Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to you all! Sorry this chapter is so short but I shall be updating the next chapter within a few days. Really, you guys are awesome! I love that you've stuck with me and are so patient and understanding. Thank you! And 8 people voted! 5 for 2010 and 3 for 2008 :D You guys rock! Oh, and had to move this up to T in accords with the rating system of the site for later. It might take a bit for it to sink in for Tony about magic because even as he said in Avengers about the aliens, "Seeing it, still working on believing it."

Also you knew it was coming, but made another story category to dump all the one-shots, drabbles, interludes, and side stories to this fic there. Updates there will be sporadic with 'chapters' not being in order but as they come to me or whatever. And I'll be updating that as well within a few days with the story about the mentioned "Peanut Butter Incident". As always, thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed.


	10. Chapter 9

**AN: ** I try to reply to reviews (never knew I could before or how!) so have tried to reply back to them. But to the Guest – Thank you! I worry about trying to keep the Tony parts IC ^_^

* * *

Also just for fun: Ages at the moment

Vernon - 38

Petunia – 28 – (in 7 days)

Dudley - 5

Harry/Edward – 5 (in 28 days)

Tony – 33

Pepper - 29

* * *

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Nine (Thursday July 3rd )**

The more Tony read through the letters in detail, the more annoyed he became when the information he was looking for came up lacking. The names that were in the letter didn't have many last names to look up and those that he had were much like James Potter. It was as if they didn't exist at all. It seemed if he wanted more information he'd have to speak more with Petunia in order to get it. Maybe she would know who the people mentioned in the letters were or how to go about contacting them. Hopefully he wouldn't be playing another round of telephone tag as he had with Henry McCoy whom put him in touch with Reed Richards who had said he would need time to contact his son's nanny, Ms. Agatha Harkness and would be in touch. When Tony asked about getting the woman's contact information, Reed had replied that it was a bit complicated and would be better coming from the scientist rather than Tony. With reluctance, Tony had agreed to wait.

In the meantime, he also had to deflect Obi's interest when he'd called to find out how much longer Tony was extending his stay in England. After finding out that it had nothing to do with business but more of a personal nature, it was only logical for the older man to assume that it was because of a woman. Tony hadn't said anything to the contrary knowing it would be in character for him. It was likely Tony's fault to begin with when he'd stated that he was interested in a little brunette. Nor did it help when he'd stated that he couldn't promise anything about not ending up in the papers. No matter what was decided upon, he was sure that some nosy reporter would find out about his kid at some point. The only thing he could do was try and keep it as quiet for as long as he could before the inevitable media shit storm that would hit.

Pepper had called the Dursley house to inform them that Tony wanted to speak some more with Petunia about the letters. She would be expecting them later in the day while her husband and the boys were out. It would give them a chance to discuss more than either would be willing to speak openly about while the children were there or chance that Edward would learn more than he should at this point. The woman was very relieved to have the box of letters back, her hand stroking the the wood lovingly as it rested in her lap while they all sat in the living room. Tony had decided to go for the one thing that had been bothering him since he'd taken a look at both his kid's birth certificate and Lily's death one. "Where exactly _is _Godric's Hollow?"

"I don't know," Petunia confessed. "For Lily's safety we didn't discuss that. They didn't even allow us to attend her funeral." That was something that had pricked at her Evans' temper. After dumping her nephew on her doorstep with only a letter to inform her of her sister's passing most of the letter was to get her to take in Ned because of the danger he was in and the safety that he would provide for her family. There had been no words of condolence nor anything of any kind that would hint that they had ever thought to let her know where her sister was laid to rest. Danger aside, it was very inconsiderate of them.

Tony then learned about how the Evans sisters were pulled apart by Lily's acceptance to Hogwarts and how in order to try and spare Petunia's feelings and assure her parents she was happy, had only written good things. But it was later when the sisters began to reforge their relationship that Lily confessed her doubts and how her awe of the wizarding world had waned. How she hadn't realized until it was too late how it was a trap and stuck in the past it was. It was very medieval not only in culture but in behavior. While she loved her job and wanted to continue in her field she didn't want to have to rely just on a wizarding education and wanted a fall back. It was one of the reasons that she and Tony met at Cambridge during the week that he was there.

"After you parted ways and she found out she was pregnant, she agreed to marry Potter," Petunia stated saying the name Potter with distaste. She had never forgiven him for his stunts at the dinner party nor at her wedding. "Then they heard about the prophecy."

Tony snorted as he stared at her skeptically. He didn't believe in predestined fate. He hadn't known what to think when he'd read that part of the letter. It was a bit telling that it was not mentioned in the one left with the kid when he was dropped off. The idea of prophecy just seemed so hokey. In one of the letters in which Lily had talked about the prophecy she had mentioned that her son wasn't the only one that it could be referencing. Unlike the Potters however, they didn't have a way to communicate with the outside world.

At the mention of a way to keep something secret, Tony was immediately fascinated in equal parts skeptical of the whole thing. In his opinion the only way to keep a secret was by the fewest people knowing it, namely only one person. How the Dursleys had reasoned that something must have happened to Ned's godfather to keep the man from him as well as any others that might have been on Potter's list of guardians. Petunia was unsure if she had made it as she knew that while she and Lily had become sisters once again, she believed that Lily would have chosen a magical to be Ned's godmother. While she loved her sister, Petunia hadn't named Lily as Dudley's godmother due to the war and not wanting Dudley to feel left out and resenting his guardians because he didn't have magic.

"Is there any way to contact any of the people she mentioned?"

Petunia spread her hands out in a gesture that basically said that their guess would be as good as hers. "Not that I am aware." Her lips pursed as thought about mentioning [i]that[/i] person. Stark didn't seem happy with the lack of information that she was unable to provide.

"What about the spy?"

"The cat woman? She lives down the street." She and Vernon had come to the conclusion that she had to be a spy for Dumbledore. Why else would the man come to their door just a day or so after the batty woman had seen Ned's face at the post office? There was also the cat at the boy's game, and Petunia herself was sure that she saw the furry creatures way too often around the neighborhood. Who else would also breed and have so many cats? It wasn't normal! As she knew full well, anything was abnormal was usually associated with [i]them[/i].

"Where exactly?" Tony wondered as he stood up. Not understanding what why he wanted to know, but deciding to humor him, Petunia stood as well. They went outside and the red headed assistant began to talk about the well tended flowerbeds. Quietly, Tony asked her to tell him where the house was at without being obvious. Once he saw her nod down the street and described how many houses past the lane it was, Tony turned his back to it. Pulling out his phone he fiddled with it and confused, Petunia had to give her attention to the redhead who was still asking her about how she got her flowers so healthy. Stark had a satisfied expression on his face when they went inside and retook their seats. Pepper immediately turned to her boss expecting an answer while Petunia watched on still baffled.

"She lives far enough away that she can't see the house," Tony informed. It made sense that as she lived a few streets over that she hadn't alerted her boss about the unusual visitors the Dursleys had. It made a certain sense if she wanted to try and maintain that she wasn't a spy but still be close. "How'd she find out about the kid's shiner?"

"The post office." Petunia told him about taking the boys out after the altercation to cheer them up. How she had seen the woman there as well. "Which is odd," she only just realized.

"Why's that?" Pepper asked before her boss could.

"They don't use the post."

Tony blinked. Who lived without mail? Granted, email was vastly overtaking traditional mail, but advertisers, magazines, bills, they still spat out regularly. At his and Pepper's looks, the woman explained about the 'magic' people using owls.

"Owls? Who looks at a nocturnal bird and thinks, 'Hey, they'd make great messenger birds.'? Did pigeons go out of style?"

"They are not known for being normal," Petunia replied not amused.

"That seems to be an understatement from everything I've gathered so far." Shaking his head, he got back on subject. "So, owls. Seriously?"

"Tony." Pepper warned.

"Right. If the spy is in contact with the -" He couldn't say wizard, he just couldn't. "Head person, why is she using regular mail? Unless she can't keep an owl because her cat's would try and make it dinner."

"Unless it was a small owl, the cat would be dinner," Pepper informed having actually seen a documentary on owls. Tony turned to look at her and she gave a defensive, "What? You're the only one allowed to have obscure knowledge?"

Opening the box of letters, Petunia shuffled through them until she found what she wanted ignoring the quiet hissed conversation about other hidden talents between Stark and the red head. "Lily wrote about a man at her school. She suspected he didn't have magic. She found out there are people like that. Maybe she is like him?"

"Read about that," Tony replied remembering that and finding it as odd especially as it seemed that people without the so called "magic" were looked down upon. It made no sense in his mind unless the man was a masochist who loved to wallow in misery and bitterness.

"Is there anyone else we could contact without Tony showing his hand?" Pepper wondered hoping there was something in the letters. There had to be _someone_ that they could contact that could tell them what they needed to know but wouldn't tell either leader of their involvement with Edward.

"There had to be a way your parents wrote to your sister? If they allowed letters through that is?" Tony wondered.

Nodding, Petunia knew that her parents wrote back to Lily while she was away at Hogwarts whereas Petunia pretended she didn't have a younger sister anymore. She knew that while she complained of the owls that came bearing her sister's letters and how abnormal it was fearing what people would think of them having a bird continually fluttering about. She knew there had been some kind of 'muggle' address to use for those that were muggleborn. It was a front for those rare graduates that decided to return to their birth world to put on forms for their education. Unfortunately she had no idea what it was anymore nor did she have any of the correspondences from back then. The only other person she knew was _him _but from the exchanges that the sisters had after they began to repair their bond, they hadn't parted on good terms.

"There might be one person," Petunia slowly spoke. It wasn't something she wanted to voice as it was a long shot and as far as she knew all of Potter's little friends were loyal to Dumbledore. She mentioned him to Stark who had asked, "Did his parents hate him? That name is just asking for the kid to be bullied."

* * *

Vernon had taken the boys to their friends' houses while he was at work, picked them up afterwards, and they'd gone to the local chippie shop which the boys had cheered at. They had bounced on their feet delighted at the treat. It gave Petunia time to discuss her sister with Stark without the children present.

At the moment the boys were yelling and running about with some of their mates they played with whenever they met up at this play park. As far as Vernon could tell they were playing some sort of game that they'd made up themselves. It was pure chaos from the man's perspective. There were unwritten code and rules that it seemed every child knew instinctively and showed at times like this when they were the only ones aware of what was going on. Knowing who was and who was not following said rules of whatever game they were playing.

The boys were thoroughly exhausted and fell asleep in their booster seats during the drive home. Neither wanted to wake and were a bit cranky when he got them out of the car. Five minutes later however one wouldn't think they'd ever been asleep nor tired with how they excitedly chattered at Petunia relaying their day to her. She humored them with a smile as she filtered out the babble and and actually listened to the 'important' bits with practiced ease. When they were done she sent them off to change into their pajamas and pick out the books they wanted read that night. Petunia supposed she should have expected it but it still came out of nowhere when in the middle of the story, Ned asked if Stark had called or come by. She had told him that he had and that he'd be seeing the boy this weekend to which her nephew beamed at her. Hopefully the man wouldn't be showing up empty handed and would have an address for them.


	11. Chapter 10

**Story Title:** **RIPPLE EFFECT**

"speech"

'thoughts'

**Chapter Ten (Friday July 4th - Saturday July 5th)**

It didn't take long for Stark to find and narrow down where the wizard from the letters lived. His assistant had relayed the Yorkshire address to Petunia, having already agreed that it would be best if she were the one to contact him. The letter took her most of Friday to compose as she hadn't known what exactly to say to him. She and Vernon had agreed that bribing the man with his being able to see the boy would work best to get him to agree to their terms. According to her sister she had felt bad for the wizard saying that because of his condition he wasn't allowed steady work. As such hiring himself out to 'regular people' would help supplement his income when he wasn't tutoring wizard children. That was what he had intended to do so that Lily's husband James wouldn't be supporting him as well.

After Petunia had finally composed the letter and read it over, she called the boys to go with her to the post office. Their friend Justin would be over for the weekend as his parents were going away for their anniversary. It wasn't as if the Dursleys would refuse the Finch-Fletchley's. The boys were good friends and the parents were friends as well. When they were told about him coming over Ned was excited and wanted his friend to stay in his room while Dudley had put up a token resistance to that idea since he was the one that had bunk beds in his room. Petunia settled the matter by saying that all three boys could sleep in either room if they wanted to.

Friday was spent going over the weekend's menu to be sure that there wouldn't be anything that Justin might be allergic to. The Finch-Fletchley's nor Dudley or Ned had ever given the implication that Justin had any allergies, but Petunia wanted to err on the side of caution until she got confirmation from the boy's parents. Thankfully, the Finch-Fletchley's weren't fastidious when it came to food choices so the Dursley's didn't have to go out of their way to pick up special items for the boy.

Ned had been a bundle of energy stuck on the fact that his friend was going to spend the night and was going to meet Tony. That had been another thing that drove the woman a bit sparse and tried her patience. All day Ned had come to be reassured as he kept asking over and over throughout the day if Tony was still coming. She only got a reprieve when Justin's parents dropped their son off that evening after supper. Justin brought his own sleeping roll, pillow, and bag. The Finch-Fletchley's left their contact information as well as a form stating that the Dursleys had permission to see to Justin in case of an emergency. Just as the Dursleys had done when they had dropped the boys off for their Valentine date.

Of course it would be a bit harder trying to get the kids to go to bed as they were all wound up. They had driven Vernon to distraction when they had had been first going around chasing each other and fighting with their lightsabers. It seemed each boy was taking a turn at being the bad guy and the hero. They had been sent to the back yard to get rid of some of the energy and not destroy the house in the processes. When it was time to come in they were on some type of pirate game. It seemed that Justin had badgered his parents to let him see the Pirate movie and had told his two friends all about it. As the only pirate film that either Dudley and Ned had seen was Peter Pan at Malcolm's house they eagerly listened and hoped they'd be able to get the Dursleys to take them to see it too. In the meantime they had fun pretending.

The boys ended up making a fort in Ned's room where the thrio mainly stayed talking and giggling as they played everything they could think of without leaving the room. They played with Ned's Lego and of course that had gotten him to tell Justin about the tower he and his dad had been working on before Dudley had ruined it. That of course instigated an argument that was only broken up by Petunia threatening to separate them and have them immediately turn into bed. Of course when it came time for lights out, Dudley had decided he wanted to sleep in his cousin's room as well. The three boys tried to keep their voices down but they could still be heard until Vernon gave them a 'stern' warning that it was bed time but couldn't help the smile on his face as he left the boys, knowing they likely wouldn't be settling down any time soon. It was no surprise that when he went to fetch the boys for their toilet run, all three were still awake even if they were yawning and fighting sleep. When it was Petunia's turn all three were asleep. Petunia had to stifle a laugh as she saw the picture that the boys made. They had apparently fell asleep midplay with their action figures. Ned was asleep on the floor, Dudley had been using his cousin's back as a pillow and Justin had curled up near the cousins' heads. Dudley and Ned used to getting up in the middle of the night but not remembering, basically sleepwalked to the toilet and crawled into their own beds. Justin's bag had been set up while they children had been playing outside and so the boy could get into hit when he'd come back to Ned's room.

All three were still in their pajamas when they came down for breakfast still a bit sleepy and not completely awake yet. Ned actually had his head on his crossed arms on the table with his eyes closed. Dudley made sure his mother was busy cooking breakfast before he took one of the plastic cups and placed it on his cousin's head. Justin at first had gone wide eyed quickly glancing at Petunia before darting to Dudley then Ned who hadn't moved and hid his smile behind his hands. Dudley then took another and tried to balance it atop the previous one. The boy was debating if he dared try a third cup when his mother turned to ask the boys a question and saw what her son had done. While wondering how late the boys had stayed up that her nephew was asleep at the table, she gave her son a stern look and sharply stated, "Dudley."

The boy unabashedly looked up at his mother. "Please take those off your cousin's head." Just because they were plastic didn't mean they couldn't crack and break. The cups had been gotten for the boys so it would be easier for them to lift when they drank until they got older and they didn't have to worry about them accidentally dropping them. Naturally, that was when Ned decided he would join the waking world and sat up only to have the cups clatter to the floor. Giving his mother a guilty look at her expression, he quickly retrieved the drinking containers and gave them to his mother who placed them in the sink to be washed and got out two new ones. Ned blinked in confusion.

Vernon came down and breakfast went without incident. After the boys got dressed, to give Petunia time to clean up he took the boys to the park. They had taken a packed lunch with them which they had taken a break from the play for before they were back at it. It was there that Stark and his assistant found them. They had gone to the house to be told by Petunia that she was the only one home. It had been Stark's idea to come to the park rather than waiting at the house. The duo approached Vernon who was sitting contently at a bench reading the newspaper glancing up from time to time to keep on eye on the boys. At the moment he saw that Justin was laughing while trying not to as Dudley sat on Ned because of some disagreement. The two boys had been arguing before they began to rough house and the slighter boy ended up in his predicament. He could hear the children but pretended he didn't for the moment even though he was keeping a sharp ear out in case he had to intervene. From what he could hear it wasn't that serious and neither boy had really been trying to hurt the other.

"Shouldn't you stop that?" Pepper asked him as they heard Ned say, "Get off! You're heavy!" Only for Dudley to bounce on his cousin to put more pressure on his chest.

Shaking his head Vernon asked, " Do you really want to get pulled into that?"

Stark seemed to consider it before he replied in the negative. "Good point." The three adults watched as Ned tried to dislodge his cousin to no avail before he told him he'd give up a day of Thomas for Dudley to let him up to breathe. Dudley seemed to think about it before he nodded and began to laugh when Justin took advantage of his downed friend to begin tickling him. Justin had found out the other boy was ticklish but Dudley wasn't. Or at least his sides weren't like Ned's were. Justin soon had his friend gasping out "Traitor!"

"Ha!" Justin cried in triumph when Ned finally begged off. He and the blond slapped hands as they grinned down at Ned who lay where he was for a moment to catch his breath before he sat up. A bright grin lit his face as he saw who was with his uncle. "Tony! Ms. Pepper!"

Jumping up and running towards them he stopped just before them and nearly bounced as he looked up at the man. "You came!"

"Sure did. I promised didn't I?"

Nodding, he grabbed the man's hand and tugged him towards where Dudley was telling Justin who Tony was. Tony went along with the boy who excitedly told his best friend, "This is my dad, Tony. Justin's my best friend!"

"I thought Malcolm was."

The green eyed boy gave his cousin a look as if he thought he was silly. "He's my _other_ best friend."

"You can have more than one?" Dudley was genuinely confused and hadn't known that you could have more than one.

"Duh." It was a phrase that Ned had heard from a classmate's older sibling. Neither Dursley adult had been happy with this and so the boy had learned to curb that reaction when he was at home. Vernon snorted and shook his head giving the boy a pass this once.

Dudley retaliated in the mature fashion of sticking his tongue out at his cousin rather than shoving him. Neither boy noticed that Tony had an amused expression on his face. Justin was watching the duo with a bemused look. Soon enough, Ned had talked his father into playing with them. Vernon coughed to keep from chuckling when it looked as if his nephew was seriously considering whether or not he wanted Stark on his side. Pepper didn't bother to hide her amusement at her bosses mock hurt expression when he wasn't immediately chosen.

"Ned takes soccer very seriously," Vernon explained to the watching woman.

"I can see that."

The boy had apparently decided that his father would do for a teammate, but only after Dudley had said he'd give him his dessert if Tony was on Ned's team. Pepper turned away trying to hide her laughter as Tony pouted. "What am I? Chopped liver?"

The boys all looked at the man and blinked. Ned replied, "I like liver..."

"With onions!" Dudley added.

"I like 'em mixed in my mash," Justin added in.

Tony stared at them and shuddered. "Okay, seriously, you all need to have your taste buds examined."

Grinning from ear to ear the boys began to make up other things and combinations they didn't think the man would like and laughed whenever they got the reaction they had wanted. Soon enough they had decided to start kicking the black and white ball that they had brought to the park. Watching her boss and the boys, Pepper realized, "Edward is good."

Vernon nodded in affirmation. "He practices enough. Loves playing it with his mates."

Apparently at one point the boys had declared that Tony had committed a foul and had decided his punishment was to tackle him. Thankfully he wouldn't end up ruining a suit since he'd brought a pair of jeans with him. Tony's excuse had been that he wouldn't be as well known in England just yet even if Stark International wasn't as expansive as he wanted. It would be good to 'blend'. In this case, it was good not to get grass stains on his clothing before he had s chance to grab the ankle biters off of him.

* * *

On the way home Ned kept up a steady stream of chatter and questions with Dudley and Justin chiming in. They told him all about what they had done last night and about pretending to be Jedi and Sith and then pirates and did Tony know anything about pirates? That led to 'Justin said,' and 'but in Peter Pan.' Tony seemed a bit overwhelmed and Pepper intervened where she could to give her boss breathing space. They boys seemed to be just as happy talking to her as they did Tony. Everything was going well until they were actually back at the house and the subject of Ned spending time in California came up.

"We're moving?" Dudley asked unhappy with a bit of accusation towards his parents. "I don't want to move!" He had friends and swimming, and he didn't want to move!

"What?" Ned asked with an expression of not understanding. Justin didn't know what was going on but know he didn't want his friends to move away either. Dudley was working himself up for a tantrum and the Durlseys' expressions and pointed looks clearly said they blamed this whole thing on Tony. Vernon took his son and Justin into the kitchen so that the others could have some privacy. While Petunia set Stark straight, he was going to assure his son that no one was moving.

With pursed lips Petunia had gotten her nephew to sit as she stated, "No one is moving! What Mr. Stark meant was just a visit. Like a vacation."

"Exactly!" Tony stated having already agreed with Pepper that this would be better. It would give both Tony and Edward both a time to get used to each other. With either of the Dursleys there it would ease some of the pressure off. During that month they would see how it would go and Tony would have a little bit of a better understanding of what he was getting himself in for.

"We're not moving?" the boy questioned just to be sure. He didn't want to move away from his friends and it had never entered his mind that it had been suggested that _he_ would be the only one moving and not his family.

"No," his aunt reassured him.

"Tony's inviting you to spend some of your summer at his home," Pepper explained. All three adults watched as Edward seemed to think about it before he nodded and asked if Dudley, his aunt, and his uncle were coming too. Pepper looked at the thin blond woman which clearly asked her a question. Petunia replied to both stating, "Vernon won't be there for the whole visit."

"But why?"

"Your uncle needs to work."

"Why?"

"If he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid. That means no soccer for you or swimming for Dudley."

Nodding in more understanding since he knew that they had had a talk before about money. The Dursleys had wanted to be sure they boys understood a little about saving money and had talked to them about their pocket change. Both boys had learned that sometimes it was good to have saved so they could afford something like a toy they'd wanted or candy. Most times they ended up spending their chore money but had once saved and put their money together to buy and share a board game they had wanted.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Tony asked and the kid nodded.

"When we going?"

"Next month," Tony informed him. The Dursleys had wanted to spend their nephew's birthday here so he could have his friends over for his party. It would also give the Dursleys time to get their passports and for Tony or rather Pepper to arrange for their stay in Malibu. Over the coming weeks Pepper and Petunia would be sure to arrange times for Tony and Edward to speak to each other.

* * *

**AN** – The thing about James supporting Remus is true as far as I could find with Rowling's wrtings. I made up the bit about him tutoring kids because it made sense in my head.

Apologies for the short chapters and taking so long between them, but my concentration has been even worse lately because of pain. Pride is the only thing that had kept me from using my crutches which I am now back on in order to walk. Because of the Covid-19 thing some of my physical therapy has been canceled. As always, thank you for reading and apologies for any mistakes. Creative criticism welcomed.


End file.
